Financial Conference, October 14

Missionaries in Guatemala are trying to reach upper class people through Bible studies centered on managing personal finances. This is the type of bible study that I hope to have in my home starting in January. One of the ladies in my neighborhood, Lolita, had heard about this study and the author of the study materials. At my party she invited all the ladies to attend a conference in which this author and two others would be speaking. Betty, one of my walking buddies, and I bought tickets for this event to be held October 14.

The Financial Conference was held at a large local hotel near our neighborhood. Betty drove and we had a marvelous time together. I really did not have the slightest idea how large a gathering it would be. The enormous ballroom was full to capacity—around 1,000 people in attendance. Everything was high quality. Even with my limited Spanish, I was animated by the speakers. Honestly, I have very little interest in finances. However these speakers emphasized having a lifestyle and attitude toward life that puts the financial side in perspective. All we have comes from God and belongs to Him. We are stewards of His benefits to us. He cares for us and withholds nothing we need from us.

The brunch during the program was excellent and efficiently served. Betty was enthusiastic about what she learned and bought one of the books so that she could pass on this knowledge to her adult daughters and to her university son. She will be a good ambassador for the neighborhood Bible study. I am hoping to have another party early in December just to keep this idea fresh in the minds of the neighbors.

As time goes on, I am gaining a deeper understanding of Matthew 9:38: “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." There is no way I could have orchestrated all the events that led up to my being here or the ones that led to making friends in the neighborhood. The harvest belongs to God. He is in charge. We are only His workers to help bring it in. Please pray that I will hear His voice and be obedient to help with the harvest.

First Visitors, October 1-5

Donna and Joe Adams were my very first houseguests. I loved every minute of their stay. I had to practice driving to the airport so I would know how to do it at night. Landmarks just don’t look the same in the dark. They arrived around 9:00 on Wednesday night and were here until Sunday morning when I dropped them back at the airport The challenge for me was navigating the city well enough to give them a good tour. They brought with them some good tourist books for Guatemala with fairly accurate maps and this did help.

The first day we toured downtown, the old part of the city. On the main square are the Cathedral and the National Palace. Behind the Cathedral is the Central Market. We did a walking tour of the central area using the guide book, and then we headed back to the Central Market to do some shopping. Donna was having a fabulous time taking pictures of all the ancient architecture and she lagged behind us a bit. Joe and I were entering the market parking lot when we heard Donna screaming, “Joe, Joe.” Joe ran toward her to see a man trying to yank off Donna’s gold necklace. When the guy saw Joe, he took off running without the necklace. There were plenty of police around the area. Seeing the guy running off and several people yelling at him, gave the police officers at the end of the street notice and they were able to catch him. Two officers dragged him by the scruff of his neck to where we were standing. Joe was furious and wanted to punch his lights out, but he restrained himself. Donna was beginning to feel sorry for the poor fellow. For him to be arrested, it would have been necessary for us to go down to the police station and fill out a bunch of papers. We opted not to spend our precious time doing that. Joe was satisfied, sort of, by an apology. He apologized and offered as his explanation that he was hungry and living on the street. Donna was feeling even sorrier for the guy when she realized that he had a bloody spot on his head where she had bopped him with the camera. That incident did not deter Donna from the shopping she had planned. After giving the police the basic information, we continued to the market in search of the perfect gifts for our friends.

The next day we had planned to go to Antigua, the principle tourist spot of Guatemala, but a neighbor came by to tell me that she heard on the news that the road to Antigua was blocked because of mud slides. We did a tour of some of the best museums of Guatemala City and had a leisurely lunch and returned to the market for a few more things and back to another market that specializes in artesian goods.

Saturday, we were determined to go to Antigua even if we had to make a few detours. It was raining and part of the road was blocked and we were held up for a little while, though not long. When we arrived in Antigua, the rain had stopped and we had a glorious day. To visit Antigua is to step back in time at least 200 years. Everything is picturesque. There are thousands of shops and more stuff to buy. I know we did not see it all, but we thoroughly enjoyed what we did see. We also left a few souvenirs in the shops for other people to buy. Because of the rain and cloudy conditions, I had been driving with my lights on. I forgot to turn them off. You know what that means. We returned to a dead battery. Another incident with police all around us trying to help get the battery charged. I am certain that the Guatemalans are the nicest people in the world. Everybody wanted to help. The police did come up with some cables, but I had to call someone who lives near there to come with a vehicle to connect the cables and get the car jumped. Fortunately we had no other incidences and we returned safely from Antigua, tired but blissful.