FEAR October 21, 2009

Below is few more paragraphs from our friends, the Richardsons, regarding the feelings prior to coming to Guatemala last week, and how God responded….

Fear:

“I had many fears coming on this trip. The voices of family and friends reminded me of the dangers: H1N1 outbreak, no guaranteed competent medical care in Guatemala, American children being targeted for kidnappings/assault/robberies, a corrupt police and government, parasites and unsanitary living conditions. Despite my fear prior to the trip, while on the trip I never felt threatened or worried while in Guatemala. In many ways, I felt safer than in some parts of Macon, GA! These people in Guatemala were existing, albeit meagerly, and I couldn’t envision them hurting or robbing the Americans that they recognized were there to help them. One villager even asked me if I was one of the Americans that was there to “bring new life” to the villagers. How ashamed I felt that I had so many fears, all of which were unnecessary, when these people didn’t even have basic needs met. Yet, these people weren’t fearful at all.”

The Holy Spirit Using 200Q October 21, 2009

Below is a quick “guest blog” from our friends Mark and Katheryne Richardson. They just returned home from their trip to Guatemala and sent us some thoughts… here they are…

“We learned of a family that had an 12 year old daughter named Blanca. She had been raped by a neighbor and became pregnant. She delivered a little girl who was about 1 year old at the time of our visit. The family had been selected to have a home built by 12 x 12 Ministries. Mark and I planned early one afternoon to deliver some clothes and blankets for the baby to use, as it was getting cold, especially during the evenings. As we had already experienced, planning wasn’t always useful/necessary in Guatemala! We ended up first visiting a near-by village, and staying much longer than anticipated. On our way home, we stopped by Blanca’s house to deliver the clothes.

Mark and I saw their living conditions, which were typical of the area: a tiny shelter, comprised of tin, piece-mealed together, a tin roof which was kept from blowing off by a few cinder blocks, one room for sleeping everyone (3 adults and one baby), and one tiny cooking area with a fire. The interior of the house was black and filled with smoke. The baby had crusted eyes and nose, filled with black mucous from the smoke. Their clothes were worn and tattered. When the wind blew, the tin pieces rattled and threatened falling down.

While our friend Brock spoke to the 12 year old’s father in Spanish, we handed the clothes we brought to Blanca. Mark was very moved by this particular situation. He reached into his pocket and put his hand on a 100Q (about $12), but didn’t remove it. He asked our friend, “Would it be OK if we left them some money?” Our friend replied in English “It is sometimes best to provide clothes or something else besides money.”

At that point, Mark said he decided 200Q (about $25) was the amount he wanted to give, but he didn’t take it out of his pocket yet. Our friend added, “Actually, this man just told me that they are going to be evicted soon because they can’t pay their rent. Their new house that we are building isn’t ready yet. Maybe you could give a donation to be applied toward that instead of just cash?”

Mark replied that would be fine.

Our friend asked the father how much their rent was, and the reply was 200Q. The room was still and silent when Mark commented that the amount he had in his pocket that he planned to donate was 200Q.

Our friend took the 200Q to the landlord the next day”