...we all need somebody to lean on...

It's not in our nature to have to rely on other people for just about everything we need to do, but that's exactly what we are doing here. As you would expect, there is a lot to learn living in another country, and without a lot of local help we are fish out of water.

But our new friends here in Guatemala have been beyond helpful, and it's been a humbling experience. For example, we have been looking for a car and a gal in the office named Vivi said she had a phone number at home of a good car dealership. That night she called us and said that the next day her and her husband would drive us into town and take us around to all the car lots. We could not turn down that offer. The next day we found out that her husband, Paulo, is a mechanical engineer and knows quite a bit about cars. They were tremendously helpful, and this is just one of the many examples of the kindness we have experienced.

As we have said before, we want to remain in a posture of learning here, and with the way the locals will drop everything to help us out has made it easy so far. In our new environment we are learing to rely on others and God more, and want to learn to mimic the hospitality and unselfishness that we have been given.


In the middle is the director of the office here, Sandra. On her left is her son Albert. They are our new neighbors. The other two are Drindis and her husband, Marvin. Drindis works in the office and is the one responsible for finding our new home. We were able to express some of our gratitude by making them dinner.

Our Home

Due to popular demand, here are some pictures of our house here in Guatemala. We are living on El Rancho Santa Fe.
We still have work to do to make it more homey, but you'll get the idea. We are so thankful that God provided us with this place. It exceeded our expectations and we love that we are out of town surrounded by trees and flowers.

First Days in the Field

We have been so busy lately and loving it. We were greeted our first evening here with a gift and some delicious Guatemalan food. We felt welcomed right away. We have been going to different communities almost everyday to see the different projects, and have begun building relationships while just shadowing other employees. And before we do much else, we have to learn a little more Spanish.

I (Kallie) have been going on quite a few home visits. My fellow employee, Mary Elena meets with the mother and talks to her about malnutrition and what she can do to help her children grow and develop into the person God created them to be. She says, God creates a seed but in order for that seed to grow into a huge corn stalk it needs to be taken care of, and likewise we need to take care of our children as best as we can. Mary then talks about the importance of wearing shoes so that parasites can`t enter and how washing hands can prevent diarhea. During this time the mother seems slightly preoccupied tending to her children or adjusting the wood in the fire, but when it is time to pray I can see that she isn´t aloof or uninterested. We pray with the mother for her children and that God would help them to grow. We pray for their future that they can learn and live the way God intended them to live. During this prayer the mother just sobs. It`s really hard to watch because she loves her children just like any mother does, but with dirt floors, mice infestation, chicken feces everywhere, not much food to eat, and unclean water it is really, really difficult to keep her children healthy.

Please join us in praying that these children will grow physically and spriritually as God desires.

First Time For Everything!

1. Waiting 4 days for my laundry to dry and I´m less than thrilled to have my unmentionables hanging for the whole world to see for not one but 4 days

2. Making corn tortillas

3. Eating soup without a spoon; fingers and tortillas are used instead

4. Putting on my favorite pink jacket and feeling something scurry up my arm all the way to my shoulder. A cockroach.

5. Owning an oven that is hooked to a propane tank

6. Using a latrine which only had 3 of the 4 sides covered.....akward

7. Watching my o so manly husband bat down the enormous, flying insects in our house.

Stranger in the Night

This little critter paid us a visit earlier this week. It was three in the morning when I woke up feeling a worm like creature on my face. As I tried to brush it away it stung my face. All the meanwhile Kallie woke up from the commotion and assumed I was only dreaming. After I convinced her it wasn´t in my head, she flipped on the light, and we saw our little friend (about 2 1/2 inches long) crawling across the sheets trying to escape. He wasn´t so lucky! The next hour and a half we laid there unable to sleep, paranoid that there were others.