ALIVE & WELL!!!!

As you probably figured out we DON'T have internet yet at our house in Santiago :( yet?

This was the update letter we sent out in July, I thought I would post it with pictures.

Wow! a lot has happened since the last update letter. Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouragement. We have really seen the Lords hand in our lives the past few months.

Danny & his teacher Carola. She is a sweet Godly lady, we are thankful to the Lord for her great teaching spirit. We are so excited to say that Danny has FINISHED LANGUAGE SCHOOL!!!! Praise the Lord! He got his last book in June. Danny and his teacher went through it in record time. One day she told him “I have taught you all I can. Now all you need is practice practice practice”. That sounded great to Danny. He finished his schooling in July. He does great in Spanish. He is enjoying being able to have more meaningful conversations with the people here.

A few of the kids good friends from school
In the last letter I told you about putting the kids in school. After 5 months of school we felt as if they had learned enough Spanish to get by. After it is all said and done it was a good experience but they had their ups and downs in school. Learning the culture the language and meeting new friends, was what we wanted them to accomplish. They will always treasure the memories of that little school.
We got the house we had hoped to get. It is a large house with a great location it is a bit old but we will make do. Please pray for us as we are moving this week-end and should be completely out of the house in Antigua by Monday July 28th.

We have already put the house to good use before we even moved in. We housed a Missions team from Iowa, La. For one week.

We hosted two video interns from Texas for another week. It was fun to have Elliot & Matt with us for a week.

Last but not least my parents, brother and his family, visited from New Orleans. All this was in the month of July so you can imagine how busy we have been.

I mentioned above we had a team from Iowa, LA come down. It was led by Jerry & Sarah Lastrapes.

It was a great group of people. Everyone enjoyed the time here in Guatemala and the ministry we did. We got to go to a school in San Pedro, (right around the bend from our house). We held a vacation Bible school for the children and shared the gospel everyday. The students were very receptive and the teachers appreciated our work.

It was hard for us to say goodbye to Jerry and Sarah. They are in the process of raising their support to come down here and be part of our team. It was great to talk about future plans and ministry once they get down here with us. Please pray for them as God prepares them for Guatemala. They have 17% of their monthly support.

Danny was able to meet with Pastor Abraham & the Elders of Alpha y Omega in Santiago this past month. Steve Sywulka is our CAM field Director and he too was able to attend the meeting to discuss our ministry here. They spoke about our ministry with Alpha y Omega, our goals for this next year. Essentially they want us to be involved with the church, get to know the people and learn the Language. Sounds easy enough right!? Yikes! We will need lots of prayer for these. As we have been visiting we have been able to meet some people but most of the Mayans are more reserved. Please pray for the Lord to send the right people our way so we can begin to make friendships, learn the culture & the language.
Serving Him,
Daniel & Daphne Foote

Team from Iowa Louisiana

I was a bit nervous about this team coming down. This was the first team we had to feed, house and translate for VBS. There were 10 in the team but I knew most of them very well (Jerry & Sarah Lastrapes and her parents Pat & Kathy). Anytime I would get a bit nervous I would remind myself it was Jerry & Sarah's team.

Here is the whole team from left to right, (back)Danny, Josh, Jerry, Maddy, Cathy, Sarah (holding) Cole, Tara, Caleb, Kathy, (front) Titus, Daphne (holding) Naomi, Chloe Ann, Isaac & Pat.

I tried to include several typical meals on the menu. One morning for breakfast we had scrambled eggs, tortillas, refried beans and a fruit salad. A very typical Guatemalan breakfast. I asked my friend Ana Samuc to help me find someone to make Patin (Typical only to Santiago). Her mother made it for us and the Samuc family came and ate with us. It is Chicken in spicy red sauce wrapped in banana leaves and cooked for several hours.

Everyone liked it, of course it was a team from Louisiana and they eat a variety of foods.

We got to eat at the Pescador, a local little restaurant in Santiago. The specialty is fried fish!! They also have a typical steak plate with guacamole that is delicious.

Mr. Pat & Ms.Kathy brought down Louisiana sausage and

made Gumbo for us one night. It was a great taste of home.

Titus had four full bowls & believe it or not Isaac did too.

They wanted the leftovers for breakfast!

We all stayed in our house in Santiago. We have not moved in yet so the furniture and beds are what came with the house. I think it is all from the 1960s. I wish I could have had my furniture in it the house but Danny keeps reminding me it's all in due time.

Staying at the lake house is like camping. The house is not weather proof or bug proof and the water comes right from the lake!! Titus thought it was funny one morning he went to the bathroom and there was a tiny little fish swimming in the toilet.

It was a fun time and everyone enjoyed their stay.

Mr. Pat brought down fishing rods for the kids and Danny too. It was a wonderful surprise. They had so much fun fishing all week. Thank you Mr. Pat, This will be a gift they use very often.

We went to a school in San Pedro every morning. It was just a short boat ride away. Our boat drive would pick us up from our dock and drop us off every day.

We spent the week ministering at a school. We held a Vacation Bible School for the kids. Since the kids are still in school here. The Director of the School allowed us to teach during class time. We would have the Bible story all together then split the kids according to their grades for Games and craft time. This is Josh and his group showing off their wordless bracelets!!Chloe Ann made friends with these two girls. They loved helping her with the craft that day. It worked very well that way. I translated the Bible story for Ms. Kathy and then once we split up Danny & Titus would translate for Ms. C in Game time, and I would translate for Sarah & Tara during crafts. I must say I am extremely proud of Danny (& Titus) for translating. Translating is not easy and they did a great job.

The Director was excited that we shared the gospel with every lesson. She said there were many students who had not heard the gospel.
The last night they were here we drove to Antigua and stayed the night in a nice little hotel. El Meson de Maria. It was a great treat after a week of "camping". We got to do some shopping and relax at the hotel. Thanks team for inviting us to stay with you at the hotel it was an extra special treat. One awesome feature was the roof of the hotel had table and lounge chairs that you could see all of Antigua, including the Volcanoes.
Maddy & Chloe Ann enjoyed the roof top view.

We went across the street to La Fonda de la calle real (our favorite restaurant) for dinner. It was a nice candle lit dinner for all of us to enjoy.

No visit to Antigua is complete with out a trip to Mc Donalds!!! It was a GREAT burger after all week out at the lake.


Jerry, Sarah, Maddy & Cole came down several days before the team to meet other CAM missionaries. They also met with the field Director Steve Sywilka to get a better idea of their future ministry with us. The Lastrapes are in the process of raising their support to come and work along side us here in Santiago. Their goal is to arrive here in Guatemala fall of 2009 please be in prayer for them as they raise their support. It was a long process when we raised our support but we saw the Lords strength and timing through it all. It was a hard goodbye for all of us. Selfishly we wanted them to stay. We are anxiously awaiting you guys!!!

PICKLES

We have enjoyed all the new tasty foods we have encountered in here Guatemala.

Grocery shopping in Antigua is a bit difficult. Sometimes you can't get what you need or want. Now, I am not complaining because once we get to Santiago I won't even have a grocery store!!

Not too long ago I went shopping in the capital and It was great. I went to Hiper Paiz. It is our Guatemalan Wal-mart.

I managed to get several things we could not find in Antigua one of which was a jar of DILL PICKLES, I know you guys are thinking not that big of a deal. Honestly when I bought them I didn't think anything of it either. We got home and put the groceries away. I think Chloe Ann discovered them first and asked could she have some pickles I said "sure". She got a bowl out and had about 3 slices. She shared with Naomi and we laughed at the faces she made.

Then Isaac & Titus came in and said OOHHH pickles. Can we have some I said "sure thing guys". They each had their share. As you can tell we were about out of pickles, I think Danny came in and had the last two and had a big drink of the pickle juice. Titus said Mom the pickles are all gone. Could I make a pickle pop in the freezer? Like we used to have at Camp Pearl. I said "sure buddy".

As I was thinking about the pickles and I just had to laugh. We devoured a whole jar of pickles in about one hour (well Titus had to wait for his pickle pops to freeze).

Now that I think about it we have not had pickles since we left the states. We must have had Pickle withdrawals!!

Visit from Alabama!!

We went to the Airport last Monday to pick up Jake & Maggie Lane, Danny's oldest niece and her husband. We were so excited to have them come down for a visit. The plane was about 30 minutes late so we were all anxious. We finally saw them walk through the door, but wait... who was with them?! "MEMAW" Titus screamed, I said who? Believe it or not it was Wanda. Danny's mother came down as a total surprise. We had no idea. They asked if we had suspected that she was coming. We had NO CLUE!! I was in such shock I did not take one picture at the airport. I had my camera on my shoulder but did not think to take one. I thought it was so cute when Chloe Ann got in the truck she said "I don't know who to sit by Maggie or Memaw"!

It was so neat to have her here too. We had all kinds of cool things planed and we were thrilled to be able to share them with her too. I know it was especially exciting for Danny to have his mother here.

We spent Monday afternoon and evening in Antigua. We took them to the Artisan Market. Wanda found a basket and loved seeing all the neat hand woven things.

We also went to the Local Market. This is were I buy all my fresh fruits & vegetables. It was a great time to go and see the Market, not too crowed but plenty of vendors still selling.

Pawpaw sent Danny & the boys new hats, they were so excited they wore them that day. Thank you Uncle David(who works at WEBB) & Pawpaw for the hats.We had waited since the first of May to climb the Volcano Pacaya for Isaac's Birthday. Since We knew Jake & Maggie were coming we decided to wait until they came. Memaw said she did not want Isaac to miss out on climbing the Volcano so she waited at the bottom of the Mountain in the little shop until we came back down.

This is the view as we were on our way up the Volcano. Isn't it gorgeous!!

Let me tell you I did not know what we were in for when we decided to climb Pacaya, but it was well worth it. Pedro our friend from Santiago, went as our guide. We even took Naomi!!
Here is the climbing crew minus Jake who took the picture.
Comforting isn't it.

I was so proud of my kids they climbed the whole way up. Chloe Ann did fall on the lava rock and got hurt. After a little consolation we were off to find the hot lava!! Titus & Isaac practically ran the whole way up. I was huffin & puffin. I think it was the altitude not the fact that I am so out of shape. hee hee

My rock climber Chloe!!

We found the Lava it was unbelievable. We were climbing over some rocks and had to turn around and go another way because the rocks were too hot!! Then we found it.The boys found a small hole in the rock that you could see the lava in. They would poke a stick in the hole and it would catch fire. They LOVED it.

This is the lava rock we had to climb as we looked for the hot lava. I liked the shapes it made as it oozed out.

This is the view as we left the mountain it was incredable. God is amazing! It was so awesome to see what He made for us to enjoy.

I just have to say I do not remember the last time time I was so tired. As we were coming down the mountain I did not think I would make it. Danny & I took turns carrying Naomi up and on the mountain but thanks to Pedro. He carried her the whole way down.

We wanted the family to see Santiago Atitlan. We got up early on Wednesday and headed out to the Lake. It's about a 3 hour drive from Antigua.

We stopped when we got our first glipse of the lake to take a group picture.

Chloe Ann just loves Maggie and had a great time with her all week.

We ate lunch at El Pescador, one of our favorites in Santiago. The sauted garlic fish plate is delicious!!

We were excited to show them our house in Santiago. We got the keys when we got there so we all got to stay in it for the first time together. I was a bit overwhelmed. It is an old house with a beautiful view of the lake. But mind you the house is 45 yrs old. So I have a lot of work to do before it is a "home".

We went on a boat ride and got dropped off at our dock.

Jake & the kids went swimming in the lake. The water is a bit cold but the locals bathe in it all the time!!

My monkeys climbing in the tree above the water.

Maggie helped by bathing the girls for me. It was nice having extra help around the house for a week.Jake found out why we call this shower a "widow maker" he tried to adjust the shower while it was on and running. He said it was a bit shocking!!
Maggie just loved the typical dress that the ladies wear. These girls were happy to have their picture taken with Maggie but they were also very emberassed!!

We got up early Friday morning to make the flight by 12:00.

Goodbyes are never easy, but we sure are glad they came down to visit us. We enjoyed seeing them and letting them see a week in the life of the Footes in Guatemala. Thanks for coming guys!