We had a short term mission team here last week for the whole week. They were 10 wonderful people from One Way Ministries in Alabama. Primarily, They assisted Pastor Nery of our new local church in conducting a three day Vacation Bible school for the local children. The VBS was a great success with over two hundred children attending the last day. The team also had the opportunity to see what Vinya Studios is doing now to get the truth of the Bible into the Mayan community. In case you don't know what Vinya does, use the link from our page. One of their creativities is finger puppet movies of Bible stories told in the Mayan languages. Jose Abel is here demonstrating how the movies are made. They recently built Noah's Ark (over 12' long built to the scale of a finger) and they created the parting of the Red Sea. Ambitious undertakings indeed for man. The team then spent their last day here on a tour of Lake Atitlan and experienced firsthand the different cultures around the lake before they flew home. We really enjoyed having them here and they were a great encouragement to Pastor Nery.
If you haven't been part of a short term mission, you should reconsider and go. Whether you leave your country or not, it will expand your horizons and provide the opportunity to build new relationships. George Barna recently had an article of the benefits to short term missions. Check out the article at the link below.

( http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=318 )

All of our children are healthy. We had a birthday party this week for six children who have birthdays this month and last. For most of them, it was their first birthday. They got right into the cake!
The Christmas tree was put up and decorated; but with all the one year old babies here, a barrier of chairs and benches had to erected in order to allow the tree to survive. Santa has been scheduled to appear here on December 4th. We had to schedule him early in order to get the real Santa! We will have a lot of "first" Christmases here this year.
Construction has shifted from the church to the new security building since a team is coming in March to install a complete security system. The church will continue in the spring. The sad news is that with fewer children here, we are having to let some of the caregivers go. We pray for more sponsors to support more children. There are many children in Guatemala in need. That is why we are here and enjoy being here.
Que Dios vos bendiga tambien,
Ron and Beverly