Guatemala: 2012

The Plan:

- Install more stoves in local homes to remove smoke (and smoke related ailments) from their kitchens. Results should be improved lungs, throats and eyes for the women that have to cook all day, everyday.

- Install a satellite dish and solar panels to support a cyber school in the village.

Trip starts off on a good note before we even leave! The actual cost of the equipment is only half of what the original estimate was! Hallelujah!

This year is going to have us in Guatemala in a faster time than any other year. We're there before noon! It's still too late to just go to Joconal right away, but we're still able to partake in a project in the city.

Every time we go to Guatemala, I completely fall in love with it. One of these times I might just stay for a long term missions (or I might just not leave. :)

There is an organization that builds houses for people cheap: About $3,000 each. We build a retaining wall for the front so as to keep the ground stable. Karina decides to take it upon herself to be a task-master and to "encourage" us with our work.

After that, we travel to check out Mynor (Armando's son and Karina's hermano) and his after-school soccer futbol program. It is up a street so steep that the van won't be able to climb it - so we must walk. The view when we get there though is very much worth it.

(A.D.D. Moment: In life we have struggles and they can be very challenging. Yet when we, through Christ who strengthens us, get over it and onto that mountain; it will be very much worth it as well.)

We get to the building and check out their school project they have. It is an after school program to reach these kids and to help keep them out of trouble.

Restaurant night out at a place with nachos bigger than our muy loco, gringo cabezas.

Tuesday:
When the next day starts, and we are on our 5-hour car trip to the mountains, we pick up other missionaries that are already there. There is Gabor (Pronounced Gaborrrrrrrrrrr), Candy and their two daughters. They seem to have that variety of energy and enthusiasm that is infectious, and I am immediately energized myself (beyond the energy I had from the awe of just being there and doing the Lord's work).

When we finally get there, we find that they now have a second floor on the farmhouse. Everyone really likes it! This is also the first year where we DON'T have a vehicle breakdown before getting to the farm! Muy bueno!

We do, as per usual, get straight to work by delivering the stove equipment to the first 3 houses and a few others start the chicken coops. The hill side is very steep and muddy and the work is arduous. Yet we manage it and somehow I don't exhaust myself.

Wednesday:
I actually wake up with enough time to eat a proper breakfast! Yay for coffee and eggs! And mosquito repellent!

We deliver the supplies for two more stoves and build a total of five stoves during the day. Moving at an encouragingly fast pace. Speaking of which; the two chicken coops are almost done (good job Greg, Michael and Gaborrrrr!)

Greg (and all of his impressive roof skills) gets to work on getting the solar panels installed and hooked up.

Our first soccer futbol match with the kids of Joconal. Zak is a pretty good netminder and myself, Kelly and Heather make a good defensive unit (with Kelly and Heather making a few key defensive blocks).

Kelly and Armando leave for Honduras to pick up the man who will install the satellite dish and connect this village to the rest of the world!

Thursday:
We construct four more stoves. Now, this isn't just building stoves, we are carrying the supplies along a dirt path (which is usually steep and/or muddy). Then we have to destroy the old "stove" which is actually just a clay table that is infested with ants and/or termites and/or roaches and/or large spiders. Constructing the stoves is like assembling a puzzle. Once we get the process down, it's easy.

We also take to staining the wood of the second floor against the rain. (and it does rain frequently).

I also assist Heather in the VBS duties. My little espanol that I know (as mal as it is) and pointing is enough and it seems the kids know to respect adults (even loco gringos).

Darwin (the Internet man) works on connecting us to the internet all day. Although the projected time as an hour to 3 hours, there are setbacks.

Friday:
Me, Cory, Armando and Paulino walk into a bean field to harvest ripe beans. I get eaten alive by bugs and both of my hands swell up. I am now limited in my abilities to do pretty much anything. Even the staining project is difficult. Every brush is painful and I feel like a bum for not being productive.

Meanwhile: Darwin is working on his last attempt at connecting the dish to the internet. If this does not work, he will have to return to Honduras (17 hours driving to his office) to research more. This is unacceptable. We get into a circle and immediately pray. As we are praying: THE DISH PICKS UP A SIGNAL! Seriously. This happens. Darwin watches the signal go from 0.8% to 13.0% and has no idea as to how it happened!

Saturday:
Armando and Paulino drive Darwin back to Honduras. During this trip, Armando asks Darwin what he thought of the prayer and the internet working. Darwin says he was amazed at see the Lord work and asks to pray. They pull over than Darwin accepts the Lord! Whilst on this journey, they have a series of events that are just amazing:

- A bridge is down and they have to ford the river in their truck following a lady across.

- They pick up a hitchhiker and along the way, there is a tree at an angle blocking the way. The man somehow lifts the tree high enough for the truck to pass!

Armando has quite the story to tell us when he returns. And this is pretty late at night.

Sunday:
As per usual: We have to push a vehicle out of a muddy ditch. Fun times. -.-

Also as per usual: The drive back includes throwing tennis balls at local children. Being in the back, I miss out.

Being tired I opt to stay at the house whilst the others go out and about at night. Cory and Kelly have a divine appointment with the owner of an Ice Cream Parlor.

Monday:
Air travel back to the states. Houston - Pittsburgh flight: Me and Cory share a row with a fellow from Texas who is a pastor that also has to have a second job. This job has him travel to PA. We get to talking and it instantly turns into a divine appointment. After exchanging information, we hope this can develop into something more.

This has been by far the most productive mission's trip I think we have had and no one got sick!

"I love it when a plan comes together!" - Hannibal Smith, A-Team

Color Blind

     I am wearing a blue shirt. If you say it is blue, you are right. Yet, if someone else says, "no, it's more like a light blue", then he would be right too. They disagree (in terms of hairsplitting), but they're both right. Both are accurate descriptions of my shirt. If a third fellow comes along (and I really do hope I never have this much discussion over the color of my garments) and claims that the first two are off and that the shirt is actually 'baby blue', well, he would be right too. (Just so we're clear, I am wearing a Pittsburgh Penguins shirt with the alternate 'baby blue' otherwise, I do not wear baby blue).

    Now, none of these are quite aligned with each other, but they're all right. No one would really argue one shade of blue over the other. Yet, if a fourth fellow came along and called it grey, that would be wrong. They would probably think the following things about him:

• He's probably not serious

• He probably never learned what colors are

• He might be color blind

• He might be stupid

• He probably doesn't hang around too many civil war reenactments

• He might not appreciate his shortcomings being illustrated in bullet format

    There will be a time when the 3 fellows attempt to explain blue to him. They will use examples and use different colors and ask different questions (assuming they're trying to determine his point of view). There will also be a time when they run out of ways of explaining blue. It's not a philosophical or logical debate, it just is the way it is.

   So, let's say he is serious, isn't stupid and has been to many civil war reenactments (and even has his own collection of hats and flattened pennies - you know the kind, you put a penny and a quarter into a machine, turn some wheels, get a flattened penny back and never see the quarter again - MAGIC!). Good for him.

But not good; because he is trying to say that blue is grey. How much effort do these men put into setting him right? Do they go mad trying to help a madman? Do they call him stupid and in need of education and risk his emotions sending him sulking away? Do they consider his 'feelings' and just "agree to disagree"? Do they try to determine if he is color blind or otherwise somehow never knew which colors were called what? Do they end the conversation there and move on? There are only so many ways to say something before getting to simply repeating the same thing over and over. Calling people stupid or ignorant (coincidentally, both ignorant and stupid people use the terms "stupid" and "ignorant" interchangeably) doesn't really turn people over to your side of the argument. And it is very easy to call someone as such without even using those specific words. The thing to remember is to "Speak the Truth in Love" and "Bear with one another's weaknesses".

Mark 4 : 9   "And he said, "Whoever has ears to hear had better listen!""

The Full Armor of God and the Phalanx

This latest posting is brought to you by King Leonidas. King Leonidas, leading 300 of Sparta's finest into battle with Xerxes and his minions so Greece may remain free . . . until it spends itself into eternal debt slavery. And so Gerald Butler can have a Bad-A$$ movie about it.

If you are unfamiliar with the movie “300”, you are unqualified to read this blog or be my friend. Go watch it now. Seriously. I mean it.

Watch the movie or I'll kick you down this conveniently-placed bottomless pit!

Now that you've seen it (and hopefully remembered to return here) let me use it as my analogy to my latest series of thoughts / rantings.

In Paul's letter to the Ephesians (Chapter 6 verses 10 – 18) Paul writes about wearing the “full armor of God”. He speaks of the Belt of Truth; the breastplate of righteousness; the readiness to be fitted onto your feet; the shield of faith; the helmet of salvation and, finally, the sword of the spirit.

In light of this; here are some thoughts that I have had recently:
The spiritual battle has been waging for a VERY long time. We have only now joined it. Some of us have been in the struggle our whole lives. Others have been “asleep” and have only recently joined in the cause and still others are still asleep; blindly coasting through their comfortably numb lifestyle.

For us (the ones that have always been awake and the recently awakened), we joined a battle that is in-progress. Should one wake up to a battle, there is always panic. Here is my fear: That far too many people wake up, see the onslaught and will only pick up the sword of the spirit and nothing else. For if one wakes up to a battle, would one take the time to strap on articles of clothing / armor? Or would one simply grab a weapon and fight? This is a mistake.

To take the analogy further: What we (as Christians) need are the Full Armor of God; The boot-camp for training in a safe and stable environment (loving home / family / Church - hopefully all three); and a proper phalanx. What is a phalanx? It is a military term for a formation of soldiers. Here is where watching 300 would help, but I will let King Leonidas explain it.

There are those Christians that try to go it alone. Except no man is an island unto himself and Jesus himself had the Disciples go two-by-two when they split up.

SPLITTER!!

I think the phalanx should be reviewed in that we need to stay in formation. Or in other words, we need to be on the same page with each other! If one of us falls, there is now a gap in our ranks. If one of us goes off course, we have a gap in our ranks. We need to keep aligned. We need to remember what was spoken in Paul's letter to the Romans (Chapters 14 and 15).

Saved

When you think of something as “saved”, what do you think of? On a computer, documents and programs are saved to the computer. They are stored in files. When someone saves the files, they are saving them TO a specific file or folder. No one thinks of saving something FROM the trash. The same works for food (unless you're on an airplane and have slept through the food distribution. In that case, the stewardess may or may not attempt to throw away your food as though it were trash). This is how being “saved” should be thought of in the spiritual sense. We shouldn't think of being saved means to avoid going to Hell. It should be thought of as being able to spend eternity with the Lord who created the heavens and the earth. How many people go to Church because they are afraid of Hell? How many actions and activities do people partake in because they are afraid of punishment? Do you get  car  i nsurance so as to avoid getting ticketed for not having insurance? Or do you get car insurance to pay for damages in the event of a crash? This isn't meant to be accusatory, but I have to wonder about people. The joy that would come with being with the Father is all I need to hear. I need not be afraid of what would come. For I have confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. I am not doing this for “fire insurance” or any sort of “feel-good” sensation that many people seek out. Some Churches have that “cheer-leader” look and feel to them. That's not to say they have gone against Jesus; more along the lines of losing some of the “meat” of the Gospel. We are told on many occasions by Jesus (and later Paul) that there will be troubles. There will be difficulties. That we may be persecuted, ridiculed and arrested for preaching the word. We shouldn't fear preaching the Truth if we believe we are saved. Now, when I say that I believe what I believe not through wanting the aforementioned “fire insurance", I mean to say that I truly believe and attempt to convert that belief into action. I do not sit through services, soak up what is preached, then go home to feel good and forget. I implement what I learn into my life. I bring up parts of the Gospel in everyday conversations. I take what I learn to shape how I make decisions throughout the day and week. Sometimes when I find something in the Bible that challenges what I have already established as a habit, I take to changing that habit. Other times, when said habit is a little bit more entrenched, I take to prayer and fasting to do what I believe God is asking of me. Admittedly, sometimes this is harder than other times. Taking this a step further; I would combine the two greatest commandments that Jesus gave us and the Great Commission to spread the Word. That is to say, I believe I am to spread the Word, to be all things to all people (easier said than done), and to speak the Truth in Love. This is what it means to be Saved. What do you think? Do you agree, disagree? Thoughts, questions, concerns? Objections?

CTRL-Z

CTRL-Z is awesome. It lets you undo (most) mistakes you could type into a text-field. This is (in general) something that most people enjoy because it gives them the security of knowing that certain mistakes can be undone and forgotten about. However, the same cannot be said of real life. In real life, very little can be undone. Even so, it can seem like it can be undone if forgiven - and that's what Jesus does. He forgives the mistakes we have made; to the point where the sin is treated as though it has been made undone.

What is done in real life can't be undone; hurtful things can't be taken back very easily. This should be enough to give us pause before doing/saying anything we may end up regretting. However, we should also remain confident in our lives, lest we do nothing out of fear. This is fear of failure. We should remember that Christ forgives our sins. We should be able to move forward and continue to preach the Good News of Christ.

Then again, maybe people could be more confident in their actions if others were more forgiving (yes I include myself in this for I am guilty as well).

This wasn't really in reference to anything, but just that people really shouldn't let their faults and failures get in the way of spreading the Gospel of Christ.

Amen.

Stand Firm

Since, it's been a while since I've written a blog post, I think I'll start with something that is both on my heart and something I have seen in the news.

^{But lets start with a verse from Paul's letter to the Ephesians:}

"10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people."

- Ephesians 6:10-18

Here, we are encouraged to be strong and to stand firm, but stand firm against what? The Devil? That's all well and good, but lets take a look at what that can mean.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094100/Severed-pigs-head-dumped-doorstep-crime-fighting-Italian-priest-condemned-Mafia.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

In this news story (you did read it, right? No? Ok I'll wait) we have a priest preach against the mafia. What does the mafia do? What they always do, they start by killing an animal and leaving all or part of it's corpse at your doorstep.

Sort of like what a cat does, only without being cute and fury about it . . .

Now, this isn't some random dude saying "whoa, killing is wrong dude!". This is a man of the cloth preaching the Word of God. The mafia should know that things like "Thou Shalt not steal" and "thou shalt not commit murder" might just be somewhat opposite of the mafia's business model. Now, the Priest could easily choose the comfortable and safe route about switching his sermons to more feathery subjects and not ones that cut to the heart of what's wrong with society. However, since he is here and called to preach the Word of the Lord, that option isn't open to him. He isn't here to please mere man. And neither should we.

Of course, most of us aren't in this situation. We face such things as misspeaking, or being made fun of as "prude's" or even speaking to people who will disagree and/or ignore us (the horror!). No, seriously, what do we (especially myself) have to fear? Would we be stoned? Flogged? Tarred and Feathered?

No. Yet, some of us feel the need to avoid confrontation that may arise as opposed to speaking the Truth of Christ. Maybe that's a lot of people, perhaps you too, but I know this is something I deal with and I refuse to believe that I am the only shy/introverted/socially awkward Christian out there.

But lets take a look at another example:

http://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=25927

That's right; the Komen foundation pulled the grant that it was offering up to planned parenthood. Why? Well, probably because they weren't offering the type life-saving breast-cancer screening exams that the Komen foundation would like to be available to women. The screenings are still available, it's just that planned parenthood is no longer the "middle-man" in the process. As a result? Every liberal reacted as though the only way that women can get breast-cancer screening was by way of referral from one of the biggest abortion advocates on the face of the planet. Women can still get the screenings, the only real problem is that planned parenthood lost a revenue of income. That's all. Shortly after, many liberal donors contributed almost $1 Million in combined donations (which would make you wonder why they would need Government grants with so many rich liberals around).

Should The Komen foundation go back to giving money to the pro-death organization? Certainly not! They are free to give money to whom they choose anyway. When things like this happen, we cannot afford to simply cower just because someone else may happen to be offended that we would have principles and stick with them. It is not surprising that the Komen Foundation is being attacked like it is. It is quite plain now that they have two options: Stand firm or cave in. Lets pray they stand firm and that we can get this baby-killing dragon that is planned parenthood defeated.

³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 9:37-38

We need not speak of the Lord 24/7 (not that there's anything wrong with that), but there shouldn't be apprehension about speaking about the Lord or the Bible, regardless of the location or the people with whom you're speaking. For there are indeed countless opportunities to serve and to witness.