Happy Birthday Isaac

It is hard to believe 11 years ago today my sweet Isaac was born. He is such a joy to be around, he always keeps us laughing. He is loving and thoughtful towards others and I love to see how he is growing into a fine young man. I love you Isaac, Happy Birthday!

Abigail Elisabeth

Today Abigail is 2 months old. We are all so excited to have her in our family. Her brothers and sisters are so sweet with her and love to help. She is an excellent baby, she has such a sweet demeanor and is content all the time. Last night was the first time she slept through the whole night!! I have to say it felt wonderful to get 8 straight hours of sleep.

Living here in Santiago we get to meet so many special people. It also means we have to say goodbye. Last week we said good bye to Mark & Dr Kiran, (an OB volunteering at the Hospitalito Atitlan). It was great to be under her excellent care while she was here.

It was fun for my kids to play with their two girls, Chloe Ann especially had fun with their daughter Leigh who was the same age as her. We will cherish the fun times we had while they were here.

Teams, teams and more teams!!

~Christ Chapel~

This is a great team that we enjoyed having with us here in Santiago.

One of the days we were able to work with both the teams. It is hard work but so neat to see the progress everyone got done.

Poor Naomi had a little mishap but Dr. Reese was there to get her cleaned up.

Titus and Isaac were able to help lay bricks for the wall going up around the camp.

~Dallas Theological Seminary~

It was a privilege to have the Dallas Theological Team stay with us in our home this year. We really enjoyed getting to know everyone on the team.

Dr. Lopez is always a lot of fun, the girls were having a blast playing this game with him, I think he was too!

National AECM Meeting

We were privileged to have the national translators from 7 different language groups, in our home again (several could not make it). I not only get to host them in our home but also get to cook for them (I have help of course). This meeting we had 24 people in our home.

It is so humbling for me to be able to have these awesome men and women in our home. Sitting around the dinner table it is fun to just listen. I am amazed at how many different languages I can hear. One person will ask, How do you say water in your language? Then others will chime in and share how they say it, some will be the same or similar and others will be completely different, or a "bad "word in another language.

One afternoon one man commented to Danny & me that he is so glad to be able to come to these workshops, he can feel the love of Christ here because we have invited him in our home to eat and sleep here. He said "whether its good or not, I feel very comfortable in your home, just like it was mine". Some one else said, "you are not only helping with the translation in the town of Santiago but you are helping with 10 translations in all of Guatemala. Having these workshops in your home makes it possible for us to learn more about the Word of God".

As I sit here reflecting our time together it hit me like a brick....These people are such great men and women of God, working tirelessly Translating ~The Word of God~ why are they suffering. As we spent time with them this week they opened their hearts to us and what I saw saddened me. They are ridiculed, mocked, rejected, suffering with illnesses, finances and many other things, Yet they are content and KEEP GOING! They see the importance of having the scripture in their mother tongue. They see the light at the end of the tunnel and through all the hardships of life they persevere. Please keep these individuals in your prayers.

Eye Clinic with the Coolbaughs and Josephs

The Coolbaughs

The Josephs

Our kids all get along so well, it was a blast for our kids to hang out with these great kids.

The Coolbaughs were able to come down and have an Eye Clinic. They were able to see over 150 people and fit them with glasses. It was such an awesome testimony for us to see their generous spirit not only did they give us their time but they also brought plenty of glasses to give away.

We not only enjoyed working with the Doctors but also with their long time friends the Josephs. As the Doctors were prescribing the glasses, the Josephs and the older kids were painstakingly looking for the right glasses. Titus and Isaac were able to help out by translating for them. We really love working with these families, they were all working. The older kids were helping fit the glasses and the younger ones were in another room with coloring books, stickers and lots of fun stuff, helping to entertain the kids whose parents were waiting to be seen. We also had help from Molly, a fellow CAM missionary (Glenn & Judy Stewarts) niece was here for a visit and spent time with us that same week-end. Glenn was a great help translating for us during the clinic. We appreciate all the hard work from everyone.

It was such a treat to have them here, we had a family prayer time the last night they were here and it brought tears to my eyes to hear the sweet prayers that the children prayed for us and our ministry. We appreciate you guys and your love for the Lord and His work. Hope to see you back next year.

My Cousin Evan...

I got a call one night from my aunt saying my cousin Evan was coming to Guatemala. I said GREAT, when is he coming and she said "in two days!!" I just laughed...nothing like being young and impromptu. He had the opportunity to take the place of some one who could not come on the trip. This was a team from their church in TN who have made multiple trips to Chimaltenango. He was not able to come to our house but we were able to go see him. It was so much fun to see him. He is a neat guy who loves the Lord. I am thrilled we got to see him while he was here.