Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
May Happenings!
Our May was insane! It started off with Dayle and I taking a short trip to Minnesota for my brother’s wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony, and I loved the White Castle hamburgers at the reception. Yum! I guess that’s what happens when you marry a chef. Dayle and I also got to help decorate Matt’s car- payback for our car 19 years ago! Ha! While we were in the states we also got to speak at our home church Remnant Ministry Center and see friends and family. However, it was more like, “Hi. Long time, no see. Bye!”
After Minnesota we returned to Guatemala and had a few days before heading to Tapachula, Mexico on a bus. We needed to take that trip because our kids needed their visas renewed. So we stayed there a couple of nights and headed back to Guatemala to prepare for another tip- Nicaragua. Someone had given Dayle and I free plane tickets to attend a regional YWAM conference there. While we were in Nicaragua Dayle and I got to visit with a missionary friend from Remnant. Tom Imgrund and his wife Cecilia took us on a tour of Managua and out to dinner. We then went to their bakery and got to be heroes by bringing donuts back to our friends at the conference.
After that trip it was time to get ready for Alicia’s high school graduation! Dayle completed an amazing 12 years of home schooling and we watched our daughter in cap n’ gown walking down to get her diploma, which we got to give to her since she was schooled at home. In August she’s planning to move to Minnesota to work and prepare for nursing school. So we’ve come full-circle: To Minnesota, back to Guatemala, to Mexico, back to Guatemala, to Nicaragua, back to Guatemala, to Minnesota. Life is funny… and short!
After Minnesota we returned to Guatemala and had a few days before heading to Tapachula, Mexico on a bus. We needed to take that trip because our kids needed their visas renewed. So we stayed there a couple of nights and headed back to Guatemala to prepare for another tip- Nicaragua. Someone had given Dayle and I free plane tickets to attend a regional YWAM conference there. While we were in Nicaragua Dayle and I got to visit with a missionary friend from Remnant. Tom Imgrund and his wife Cecilia took us on a tour of Managua and out to dinner. We then went to their bakery and got to be heroes by bringing donuts back to our friends at the conference.
After that trip it was time to get ready for Alicia’s high school graduation! Dayle completed an amazing 12 years of home schooling and we watched our daughter in cap n’ gown walking down to get her diploma, which we got to give to her since she was schooled at home. In August she’s planning to move to Minnesota to work and prepare for nursing school. So we’ve come full-circle: To Minnesota, back to Guatemala, to Mexico, back to Guatemala, to Nicaragua, back to Guatemala, to Minnesota. Life is funny… and short!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Fun Stuff we get to do!
There's so much randomness to our life that I thought just some photos about other stuff would be fun to share. Here it is!
Movie Night at the YWAM Base
Youth Drama Team for outreaches
Mark sharing the gospel at a medical clinic
Our friends and co-workers Eder and Carolina
doing what they do best! They are amazing.
Mark sharing at a movie night in Santa Maria
de Jesus
Mark and I visiting a rehab to see what we can
do to help them out.
It's a crazy but wonderful life.
Movie Night at the YWAM Base
doing what they do best! They are amazing.
de Jesus
do to help them out.
It's a crazy but wonderful life.
How we encouraged a bunch of heroes!
As Americans we are raised to think of our firefighters and paramedics as heroes worthy of our respect and the distinction of hero. They are thanked and honored in towns and cities across America. People recognize them for what they do and who they are and the way they put themselves in danger to ensure our safety and way of life. We are grateful! They are heroes.
Did you ever think what it might be like for fire fighters and paramedics in different parts of the world? In developing nations where the needs are so great that, even though they might want to, the government and the people aren't able to provide sometimes the basic needs of these heroes let alone take the time to honor them. The volunteer fire fighters and paramedics in our area regularly stand on the highways going in and out of town to collect spare change and money from people to use for things like gas for their emergency vehicles and equipment they need to do their jobs. They are volunteers yet they spend HOURS on their time collecting to make sure they can do what they need to do during hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, accidents, mudslides, and medical emergencies. They don't get thanked. They don't generally get honored.
We have watched the bomberos (fire fighters and paramedics) in Antigua care for our friends who live on the streets over and over again. They have bound wounds, cared for cuts, run them to the emergency room, given them water and food, made sure they had a blanket if they needed it, and even come to take care of them when they die. They are just really great people!
Last week we had a group from Toronto who helped us throw a party for them. It's something Mark and I have been wanting to do for a really long time and it finally worked! They raised $250 and brought down decorations for a luau including leis and we had a party. We made chili dogs, coleslaw, and 2 gigantic cakes and we also had watermelon, chips, pop, and coffee. Because we were able to do those things for so little we were also able to buy $100 in gift certificates for a local restaurant to have door prizes! We showed a movie, cheered them when they entered the station, gave them their flowers, and served them so they could just relax and have fun. There were a total of about 40 bomberos there that night!
One of the bomberos told me that this was the first time they had anyone say thank you to them and do soemthing to show their appreciation. We don't want it to be the last!
Did you ever think what it might be like for fire fighters and paramedics in different parts of the world? In developing nations where the needs are so great that, even though they might want to, the government and the people aren't able to provide sometimes the basic needs of these heroes let alone take the time to honor them. The volunteer fire fighters and paramedics in our area regularly stand on the highways going in and out of town to collect spare change and money from people to use for things like gas for their emergency vehicles and equipment they need to do their jobs. They are volunteers yet they spend HOURS on their time collecting to make sure they can do what they need to do during hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, accidents, mudslides, and medical emergencies. They don't get thanked. They don't generally get honored.
We have watched the bomberos (fire fighters and paramedics) in Antigua care for our friends who live on the streets over and over again. They have bound wounds, cared for cuts, run them to the emergency room, given them water and food, made sure they had a blanket if they needed it, and even come to take care of them when they die. They are just really great people!
Last week we had a group from Toronto who helped us throw a party for them. It's something Mark and I have been wanting to do for a really long time and it finally worked! They raised $250 and brought down decorations for a luau including leis and we had a party. We made chili dogs, coleslaw, and 2 gigantic cakes and we also had watermelon, chips, pop, and coffee. Because we were able to do those things for so little we were also able to buy $100 in gift certificates for a local restaurant to have door prizes! We showed a movie, cheered them when they entered the station, gave them their flowers, and served them so they could just relax and have fun. There were a total of about 40 bomberos there that night!
One of the bomberos told me that this was the first time they had anyone say thank you to them and do soemthing to show their appreciation. We don't want it to be the last!
Friday, March 9, 2012
How Mark and Alicia spent their Wednesday.
So this past Wednesday Mark and Alicia spent the day up in an indigenous village not far from Antigua working in a free health clinic. That evening we showed 2 movies to the people of Santa Maria de Jesus as well.
What kind of person goes to church in a dump?
Ummmm...that would be us!
Last year we started something called Street Church with our homeless people on Sunday nights. It's one of those things where you can't really plan what will happen but it's always good! We usually have testimonies and sharing of the word as well as prayer. We've just started bringing food as well because it's been so cold that it's good for them to have something hot and nutritious before bed. Mark also decided that it would be fun to bring somekind of game to play with them afterward so we bring an old Viking game (because we're proud Minnesotans!) that we learned from his brother called kuub. It's been so great! The guys love playing the game and eating the food--it feels like something just natural for them, something that men just do. It's a time to just hang out and relax and fellowship with them. We love it!
Last Sunday night I met "Juli". When I looked at this person dressed in a woman's sweater and slacks all feminine and pretty I new that he wasn't a woman. I started talking to him and he asked if we had any food left. We didn't so I offered to take him across the street to get some pupusas (stuffed taco-like things) and salad. He came with Lorena and I. (Lorena and her husband, Fernando, work with us at street church) We ordered the food and then stood outside to talk. That was when "Juli" admitted that his name was Julio and that he was gay. I just asked him about his family and he broke down. He hasn't been living on the streets long. He came out to his mother that he's gay and she went crazy. She kicked him out and threatened to kill him. He has since found out that his brother is looking for him to kill him as well. He was just broken. He asked Lorena and I to pray for him and we did. He sobbed.
Please pray for Julio.
Here's some photos of our time at street church!
Last year we started something called Street Church with our homeless people on Sunday nights. It's one of those things where you can't really plan what will happen but it's always good! We usually have testimonies and sharing of the word as well as prayer. We've just started bringing food as well because it's been so cold that it's good for them to have something hot and nutritious before bed. Mark also decided that it would be fun to bring somekind of game to play with them afterward so we bring an old Viking game (because we're proud Minnesotans!) that we learned from his brother called kuub. It's been so great! The guys love playing the game and eating the food--it feels like something just natural for them, something that men just do. It's a time to just hang out and relax and fellowship with them. We love it!
Last Sunday night I met "Juli". When I looked at this person dressed in a woman's sweater and slacks all feminine and pretty I new that he wasn't a woman. I started talking to him and he asked if we had any food left. We didn't so I offered to take him across the street to get some pupusas (stuffed taco-like things) and salad. He came with Lorena and I. (Lorena and her husband, Fernando, work with us at street church) We ordered the food and then stood outside to talk. That was when "Juli" admitted that his name was Julio and that he was gay. I just asked him about his family and he broke down. He hasn't been living on the streets long. He came out to his mother that he's gay and she went crazy. She kicked him out and threatened to kill him. He has since found out that his brother is looking for him to kill him as well. He was just broken. He asked Lorena and I to pray for him and we did. He sobbed.
Please pray for Julio.
Here's some photos of our time at street church!
Things that are crazy.
There are a lot of things that are just plain crazy. Things that you can't explain but it all intersects to make something happen that you never expected to work. This Sunday one of those things happened.
When we first started working in the streets we ran into a guy named Gregorio. He was a violent, angry, bitter person. He had spent time in prison and had even stole some money from Mark at one time. It was one of those situations where whenever we saw him he was causing problems or was completely in the middle of something not good.
Over the past 2 years we noticed a few little changes, nothing too major just little things that made us notice that something was happening. He wasn't as bragging about his past as I remembered him once being, he was sleeping the the shelter and not causing problems there, he seemed less angry. I have to admit though, I didn't know if he was just putting on somekind of show or if something was really happening in him.
Last Sunday I saw Mark talking to someone in church off to the side and I was surprised when I saw that it was Gregorio! Shocked! What was he doing there? I also looked over the congregation and realized that our friend Jose Eduardo was there with all the students from Teen Challenge in Guatemala City! They only come to our church maybe twice a year. This was unusual.
When I talked with Mark about what was going on, he said that Gregorio was telling him he was sick of his life and wanted a radical change. It was a crazy God thing that Jose Eduardo was there that same morning! After church we introduced them and Jose Eduardo asked Gregorio how he was doing and Gregorio said, "Bad." Jose asked him why and he said that it was time for a change. Jose looked at him and said, "If you're really ready for a change why don't you come with us right now to Teen Challenge?" Gregorio mentioned that he felt bad because he needed to pay back the money he had stolen from Mark first. Mark told him to forget about it for now, we can deal with that later.
End of story? Gregorio went to Teen Challenge that day with Jose!!! Crazy.
When we first started working in the streets we ran into a guy named Gregorio. He was a violent, angry, bitter person. He had spent time in prison and had even stole some money from Mark at one time. It was one of those situations where whenever we saw him he was causing problems or was completely in the middle of something not good.
Over the past 2 years we noticed a few little changes, nothing too major just little things that made us notice that something was happening. He wasn't as bragging about his past as I remembered him once being, he was sleeping the the shelter and not causing problems there, he seemed less angry. I have to admit though, I didn't know if he was just putting on somekind of show or if something was really happening in him.
Last Sunday I saw Mark talking to someone in church off to the side and I was surprised when I saw that it was Gregorio! Shocked! What was he doing there? I also looked over the congregation and realized that our friend Jose Eduardo was there with all the students from Teen Challenge in Guatemala City! They only come to our church maybe twice a year. This was unusual.
When I talked with Mark about what was going on, he said that Gregorio was telling him he was sick of his life and wanted a radical change. It was a crazy God thing that Jose Eduardo was there that same morning! After church we introduced them and Jose Eduardo asked Gregorio how he was doing and Gregorio said, "Bad." Jose asked him why and he said that it was time for a change. Jose looked at him and said, "If you're really ready for a change why don't you come with us right now to Teen Challenge?" Gregorio mentioned that he felt bad because he needed to pay back the money he had stolen from Mark first. Mark told him to forget about it for now, we can deal with that later.
End of story? Gregorio went to Teen Challenge that day with Jose!!! Crazy.
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