December, 24, 2007

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

May the love of Christ be proclaimed this holiday season.
Because He came to earth, we can have eternal life!

Ken and Jayme returned safely from their Pacaya climb. They were really excited to have been able to see lava close-up. (In one spot, it was about 5-6 ft. away!) It was incredibly hot in the area. Here are some great pictures. They roasted marshmallows over a hot spot (without the molten lava).

Here is another one - the real thing! We saw this lava river from our house the other night - glowing bright red.

And to prove that Ken was there...


These aren't your normal Christmas pictures, are they??? Oh well, that's life in Guatemala!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Jayme arrived home safely on Dec. 14, for the Christmas holidays!! We're having fun making Christmas cookies. So far we've made our traditional lebkuchen, date cookies, springerle and honey cookies. We hope to make mint fudge too.

Ken went to Patzún this afternoon for the Alfa & Omega board meeting, and Jayme went to a Christmas party given by some of her friends from our church here in the capital. I stayed home and finished baking the honey cookies along with doing other 'odds and ends.' At about 10:30 p.m. both got home and announced that Pacaya (the volcano south of Guatemala City) was acting up. We climbed our water tower in our backyard and saw the sight. (Quite a feat for me who doesn't like heights!) Here's a picture. If you look closely, you can see the main flow of lava is coming out of the side - not the top of the volcano. (There is a little red glow at the top.) Interesting. Jayme and Ken have plans to climb Pacaya this coming Saturday. At the moment, I don't know if this will change their plans or not. (No one has been able to climb to the top for a few years now, because of all the activity. ) Jayme was told this afternoon that people roast hot-dogs and marshmallows over the lava. Sounds scary to me!

I've also been making a few more Temari balls. (See Sept. 11's post) Here's one that is made with a different technique than most of the others I've made. The threads are wrapped instead of stitched. It was a little confusing at first, but once I got the pattern established, it wasn't too bad.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Appreciation Lunch

Serving French fries

On Sunday (Dec. 2) Ken and I hosted an appreciation lunch for the Alfa & Omega board members and their families - in Patzún. 25 people attended. (One family wasn't able to come.) We served Pollo Campero (the Guatemalan answer to Kentucky Fried Chicken), the ever present tortillas, drinks and cakes that I had made. We had a great time with everyone. They are a great bunch of people.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Please pray for Ministerios Alfa y Omega. They are in the process of buying the 3 acre property in Patzún. A down-payment of $67,000 (dollars) has been paid (including $17,500 for the sales tax). $100,000 is still needed. (Land in Guatemala is not cheap.)

God is faithful!

The second year of the school ('colegio') ended in October. (The school year here in Guatemala is from January to October.) They had 36 students this year, and already have 50 students enrolled for this coming January.

Sunday, November 24, 2007

We hope you all had a wonderfully, THANKFUL Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for all God has done for us, especially the salvation He provides through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Yesterday, we made a trip to Patzún (also Iximche and Panajachel) taking four men from a Christian school in South Carolina to see Ministerios Alfa & Omega.

They are interested in partnering with the school, and were impressed with it. Two of the Alfa & Omega board members were there to present the work. They reported that, so far, there are 50 students enrolled to start in January! Thank you, Lord. (The first year they had 25 students, this year - 36.) That is very encouraging. However, they also reported that they need 90 students to cover the costs of paying the teachers. Please pray for God's will to be done. At the moment, we don't know where we would put 90 students!

On a family note: Jayme was able to spend her Thanksgiving holiday with Erin, Scott and Isaiah in PA. She really enjoyed her time there. (She had only seen Isaiah for one hour {in Sept.} before now.) Drew, Rachel and Evan went to Rachel's parent's home nearby, and Kyle spent the day with Ashleigh's family in California. We spent the day with fellow missionaries in Antigua.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Yesterday Ken took me to my Intermissions committee meeting in Antigua. He decided to sit in on the meeting, and was drafted into service! He will help with the facilities part of the conference as much as he can. Our Canadian work team comes the two weeks before the conference, (This coming March, they leave on the day the conference starts.) so that makes for busy times right before the conference. I will again make the name-tags for everyone who attends (around 600 people).

Today I baked a turkey to take to the CAM Guatemala Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow in Antigua. Tomorrow morning, I'll make gravy and dressing. It's always fun to get together with the other CAM missionaries on Thanksgiving.

Jayme is in Pennsylvania this weekend with Scott, Erin and Isaiah! A fellow student took her to within 3 hours of where Scott and Erin live. She is so excited to be able to spend the time with them. She had only seen Isaiah for one hour - in September - before this week-end!

Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING tomorrow!

November 16, 2007

So sorry for not posting in such a long time. Oct. 19-29 we attended the mission conference at LakeRidge in Dallas. We had fun seeing friends and meeting new people.

One day we were able to go to Fort Worth and visit with Cindy's cousin and 92 year old aunt (who still lives alone.) She is an amazing lady. You'd never know by looking at her or talking with her that she is 92. What a great time. Another day we went to Dallas Baptist University to see Josh, one of our last summer's interns.

After the mission conference, we went up to Tulsa and Tahlequah to visit our parents. Both sets of parents seem to be doing relatively well. Drew, Rachel and Evan visited us one week-end. It's always great fun being with family!!! Wish we could see everyone. (Cindy's mother counted all the people in their family. By next June, the V. Johnson clan will number 60!)

Ken returned to Guate. on Tuesday, Nov. 13. Lord willing, Cindy will return on Monday, Nov. 19.