"Prepare your minds for action" - 1 Peter 1:13

The rain´s been pouring down hard this week and so we´ve been stuck in the office the last couple of days. But though I (Shane) would rather be out in the communities, some time in the office can be good to "prepare my mind for action".

Ideas have consequences. Or in other words, our worldviews shape our actions that will have an impact on other people. For instance, my understanding and beliefs about poverty are going to shape the methods in which I try help the people here overcome poverty. So often I can get caught up trying to act like a Christian should, without first making sure my thoughts align with those of God, without first making sure I "think Christian". The fact is, though, that if I don´t make a conscious effort to think like Christ I will begin to think like the rest of the world and my actions will reflect it.

That is why it is so important to read and study the Bible, to simply ask God for wisdom, and to quiet oneself to hear the leading of the Counselor (the Holy Spirit)- all of which I have done too little of lately. And the ironic thing is that while I´m here to help those living in poverty I am living in another form of poverty myself.

King Solomon, when God told him to ask for anything he wanted, asked for wisdom and God blessed him immensely for it. I think this is because He knew Solomon had his priorities straight. Solomon knew that wisdom (a mind aligned with the Creator of the universe) was the base for success for everything else in life.

Lord, please fill my own emptiness with wisdom and a rich relationship with you that my mind may be prepared for action.

We Prayed And God Answered

As many of you know, Shane and I have been looking for a car for what seems like an eternity. Here a used car is a code word for a totaled car imported from the U.S. If that doesn´t make us slow down and really look into what we are buying, the price tag certainly does. Used cars are almost double the price of what they are in the states. So we have been looking at our options to say the least. Our friend Paulo who is a mechanical engineer has been able to help us know which vehicles are in good condition and such. Shane and I have been praying a lot that God would provide us with a vehicle that would meet our needs as far as having enough space and wouldn´t break down a lot and cost us a bunch of money.

With those things being said, we have had our sights set on a 96 Tracker. The body was in good condition, the motor was running well, no oil leaks or anything. Of course the only problem was the price. Too high. Over a three week time period we continued looking at other vehicles and kept coming back to this one. With the help of some friends we finally got the salesman to come down little by little on his price until last Friday it hit our price range. That evening we prayed that if this was the car we had been praying for that all would go smoothly, and that if it wasn´t we would be prevented from buying it. I really hadn`t considered the second being a possibility, though. The next morning we cheerfully headed into town with our friends just ecstatic to be with car again. We anxiously greeted the salesman, whom we were on a first name basis with at this point, and he gives us the news. Yes, the car had been sold Friday afternoon. We were a little dumbfounded and were not even sure how to respond. So here we are, back to square one and trusting God with the vehicle hunt. While laughing our friends said, ¨You asked, and God answered!¨

Birthday Weekend

I (Shane) turned 25 this last weekend. I was given a surprise birthday party Saturday night by one of our fellow employees, Carlos, that works in the Guatemala City office. He said that since we had no family here to celebrate with, he wanted to come down and celebrate with us. They brought wine and cake and Kallie and I made everyone a Cajun meal (our favorite type) for dinner, but I think it was too spicy for most everyone. The Guatemalan's are very polite and ate it all (though some very slowly and with much pain). From now on, we will probably stick with pizza or pasta. It was a fun night and made me feel very welcomed and at home here. The next morning my lovely wife gave me a guitar for my birthday. That was quite a surprise and I have been wanting to learn to play (I think my uke might be a little jealous to share her time, but she'll get used to it).

I've began meeting some of the men that form the water committees in some of the communities where we are working. It's great to be able to see and find out more about their current water systems and what they think needs improvement. Please pray that these meetings will go well, that I will ask the right questions, and that I can start building relationships with these men.

Our First Guest

The other night we had our very first overnight guest, a fellow employee named Eleuterio. Him and others have long commutes to the office here, so Kallie and I have offered our extra room as a place to stay when they need to start work early or end late.

We enjoyed getting to know Eleuterio better. He has a wife, eight kids and lives in a community that has no running water except for rainwater collected from rooftops. When we asked what he did in his free-time on the weekends he said that he was a "local missionary" in his community. What a great way to think of ones self. Then, before we went to bed, he asked to pray for us and our new work in Guatemala.

Eleuterio meets with families everyday, often ones with kids that are suffering from malnutrition. He said he likes working for Food for the Hungry because he can talk with families everyday about God and about how their children can grow healthier (at least something close to that, remember all of our conversations were in Spanish).

Eleuterio is the guy sitting on the left. This picture was taken on our office fun day. We went to a park which included a barbeque, devotionals, soccer, swimming, and going down this crazy concrete water slide (definately would not pass safety regs in the states). And in case you didn't notice, I'm the guy in the middle.