Amigos legos de aqui,
January passed very quickly. Many things occurred here, some good, some not so great.
Starting with a not so great...
Last month we told you about Kenia, our special needs child and asked you to pray for her. We were able to find a couple in the US who would take her and also they lined up medical care for her. When we petitioned the court for a medical visa, they turned us down, took her from us, and placed her in a state run home. Not a good result for Kenia and a lot less than we had hoped for. We ask that you pray Kenia will be moved to a private childrens home that can give her the special care she needs, Hannah's Hope in Guatemala City.
On the bright side, Lupita and Maria Louisa went home with their adoptive parents in the US.
Oscar and Benjamin are close to leaving. Oscar is pictured here "skyping" with his parents in PA. However, the adoptive parents of the twins, Ana Luz and Maria Elizabeth, are now saying they don't want the girls so the twins could be abandoned twice. If the adoption is dropped, the twins will remain in this country. Please pray that the adoptive parents have a change of heart.
Larry and Claire Boggs returned in mid January. We are glad they are back. There is much we can do to help but there is always much that needs their personal attention. We have been able to get out for lunch once since they have returned.


CNA ( the governmental childrens agency) is now accepting applications for private childrens homes. Unfortunately, during 2008 over 80% of the private childrens homes in Guatemala were forced to close because of a lack of children and funds. We intend to persevere. Our application has been submitted and we have been inspected by both PGN and CNA this month. We thought that was unusual as the road is closed and they had to walk a half a mile each way(Our road will be closed for another month). Nevertheless, now Claire and six of our caregivers are now attending a week of "nanny" classes each month for six months in the City in order that they will be certified caregivers. We hope we will be getting more children soon.
School started in mid-January. Our older girls, Onoria and Claudia, along with the twins attend. The twins turn five in April. On their first day, the twins hopped and skipped all the way until we got there. Then they clung to us and did not want us to leave. We left immediately. When we returned to pick them up, they were happy and joyful. All four of the girls enjoy going to school and we enjoy taking them and bringing them home. Neither of us can remember being that happy to go to school. One morning it was so cold you could see your breath which is what the girls are doing in this photo as we walk along
We had three groups come this month, one from Illinois, one from Michigan and the last from Oklahoma. They are a real joy for us to be here and help them make a success of their mission trip. They are great people who all have a heart for serving others and working together. If you have not served with a short term mission team, we asked that you pray about stepping outside your comfort zone and serve others and expand your horizons. We also get visitors who come to help, to take in the beauty of the area and to be with the children. With or without a mission group, you are welcome to visit
We went to the City this week and picked up our passports and our extended visas, good for another 90 days. We plan to return home on April 16. It really is beautiful to serve and to be here.
May God's grace shine upon you. Ron and Beverly

December at Nido del Aguila

We are in good health and many things are going on here at Nido del Aguila in Solola. So we will tell you about a few of the happenings without boring you about the weather.
It is important to be "flexible" as things may not be as you expected but they have a way of working out. Our road to Nido del Aguila is an example. It is a half a mile dirt road from the front of the National Hospital to our childrens' home and retreat center. We are the end of the road. The City of Solola announced they intended to pave the road for the first 1/4 mile behind the hospital and that our road would be closed for the months of January and February. However if we were willing to pay Q12,000 up front they would try to acommodate our traffic. When we showed no interest, they lowered their demand to Q10,000. We were willing to talk about paying so much a week to let us in and out but not pay it all up front. On Friday, December 12, they told us the road would be closed most of the following Tuesday to haul in block but the road would be open the rest of the week. On Monday, December 15, they told us they changed their plans and the road would close in one hour and probably not re-open until February. We got two vehicles out but had no time to bring in aqua pura, food or anything else. So now the road remains closed for the first 1/4 mile to all vehicles. We can drive back toward the hospital 1/4 mile and park at the end of the construction. Thus we only have to walk and carry everything1/4 mile through the construction area. We and all our neighbors are in the same boat. At least we can use the pick-up and van to haul people and goods the last 1/4 mile.




In the other picture is Pastor Nery, his son Christian and the "trainer" from Helps International. This stove is called an "ONIL" stove after its inventor and offers a low cost way to eliminate the open fire in the kitchen of most homes. With no chimney for the fire, the cooking fire causes many health problems. This stove also burns about 75% less wood. The gathering of firewood is a fulltime avocation of the young, the old and the women. Pastor Nery and Ron have been "trained" on how to install this stove. The Jim Houston group from Birmingham, AL that came here at Christmas. (remember the road is closed, 25 people, 50+ bags) They bought 12 stoves after Pastor Nery said he knew at least 12 families that could and would use them. They got the first two stoves installed earlier this week. The stoves cost less than $150 each, including shipping from Guatemala City. It is an excellent outreach for Pastor Nery and our new church. Our only limitation is money?? Isn't it always? Could you help?
Check out the stoves at http://www.helpsintl.org/default.php
Helps International also has a home water filter that can certainly eliminate water borne illness, a major problem for infants and small children.
Pastor Nery has been having about 40-50 kids and 12-15 adults come to the Sunday morning services. A young couple is helping him now with a keyboard and singing. The Christmas service on the evening of Sunday December 21 drew over 200 from the neighborhood. (Remember, the road is closed)

December normally is a month of a lot less work. Everyone gets their regular paychecks plus vacation pay, holiday pay, sick pay and retirement pay. The children are home on vacation. Our staff in the childrens' home and the retreat center have a traditional Christmas dinner together in which there is much laughter and exchanging of gifts. The traditional meal includes fresh grapes and apples (Washington State of course). The construction crew instead takes a one day field trip together. This year they went to Esquintla to shop, swim, play futbol and have a good time. A lot of male bonding?
In the photos below, the Christmas party is on the left and the construction crew is on the right.



A christmas tree was put up and decorated in the childrens' home. With all the one year olds moving about, it quickly needed a barrier all the way around it to keep the ornaments on and the tree upright. The children all got presents and the older children were very excited. Our oldest boy, Oscar, turns three in February and he got the additional treat of a visit from his adoptive parents. The girls in the photo below are wearing their new sunglasses and carrying their new 'barbies". They are Linda Marie in front, and from the left, Claudia, Lupita, Ana Luz and Maria Elizabeh with Onoria in back. Lupita goes home next week. Linda Marie leaves soon too.

The little girl to their right is Kenia. She is nearly three but cannot sit up, feed herslf or talk. She has cerebral palsy, blind and has a host of problems. A couple in the United States wants to adopt her and bring her to the United States where her problems can be better addressed. Please pray for the quick success of the adoptive parents so Kenia has a better chance at life.
We ask that you also pray that the children here in the adoption process go home soon and that we are allowed to keep the others that are not being adopted and be allowed take in more children. Que la gracia de nuestro Senor Jesucristo sea con ustedes. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Stay in touch. Ron and Beverly

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

After two weeks in Solola...

We are back in Solola' at Nido del Aguila. Our flight was un-eventful except for the three hour delay in Houston because of storms. Once we returned we felt like we had hardly left.
Nido del Aguila is down to less than thirty children. Of the ones remaining, seventeen are not in the adoption process and their hope of getting a family in the US remains a hope but not much else. The Guatemalan government continues to forbid any adoptions outside Guatemala. A photo of the seventeen without families is enclosed. The oldest of these is Claudia, age 5, who is sitting next to Beverly. Claudia is holding our youngest, Angelito, who turned one month old today. Kenia who is in the chair in the back right is a special needs child and she will be three this month. She has a family interested in the US but we have not got the paperwork started yet. The remaining fourteen children are between 9 months and two years old. All these children are supported solely by donations from the US. We hope to get six more children as we certainly have the space and the manpower, but the increase will depend entirely on whether we have the financial resources to sustain the additional children. The children are so precious!
Another bright spot was Onoria's "promocion" from primary school to colegio. Onoria is eight years old, our only child beside Claudia over two years old. We attended as her "parents" and it was a delightful time. She attended a small Christian school,Nuestra Dia, here in Solola.
The crime in Guatemala is an ongoing problem. Guatemala has an "old west" flavor as law and order is sometimes taken into the hands of the citizenry. The day after we arrived, we went to the market in Solola. It was very crowded as usual. As Ron was pushing his way through a small group of small old indigenous women, it became a lot of pushing and shoving. When Ron broke free, he found that he had also been freed of his wallet, now apparently in the hands of one of those sweet grandmotherly types. It is a small comfort to know that grandma has a way to supplement her retirement.
In neaby Sn Jose Chacaya', one of the farmers noticed that his onion crop was not yielding what he thought it should. So he and his family started to keep a watch on th onion field at night. Two nights later, at about 11PM, they saw two men come into the field and started to harvest the farmer's onions. The farmer and his family confronted the two men who they discovered to be armed policemen from town. The policemen threatened the farmer with death among other things, but the farmer's family managed to get a coat from one the policemen before they left. The next day the farmer went into town with his neighbors and confronted the police and the mayor. After five hours of negotiating, the policemen agreed to pay the farmer Q5000 ( about $667) if the farmer would not press charges. Onions sell for about $100/sack from the field. It was a unique crime and resolution.
A more common resolution is the death of the alleged criminal at the hands of a vigilante mob. That happens several times every week here in Guatemala. Kidnapping is a particularly sensitive crime with the local populace.
Last week we had five days of strong north winds, sometimes gusting to over 60 mph. It was chilly. The temperature actually dropped one night to 7 celcius. ( we know, it is still above freezing). Corn is raised by nearly every farmer in this area. It is not so much a cash crop but a crop that feeds and sustains the farmer and his family through the year. Corn is planted in May and is harvested in January. The corn is harvested after it dries on the plant as it will not then rot in storage. The corn at this time is still growing and the ears are still forming. The corn is eight feet tall and taller. Needless to say it did not do well in the strong winds of last week. It is estimated that the farmers lost about 25% of their crop; a very big loss indeed to their annual sustenance.
Christmas is not far away! The tree is already up in the central park. A lot of the merchants had decorations up before All Saints Day (Nov 1) With our heritage of northern winters, it is a little hard to reconcile to the weather and the beauty found here in November and December. Lots of plants in bloom, lots of birds and lots of insects. We guess we don't miss snowshoeing that much. We will work it out without snow etc.
Lastly, we want to enclose a photo of Edy and his sister, Mayra. By the donations of Tom and Susan through the GCF, we have provided scholarships to them to attend a good Christian primary school this last year. The Guatemalan school year is from mid January to the end of October. Tom has already committed to support them for next year. Now is the time to support a child for next year. The cost is nominal, $25/month, for ten months starting in January. If you are interested, we need to know now so the school can plan for the additional student(s)
We also started spanish lessons again, but only three times a week. It seems that as we matured, our minds were coated with teflon and nothing sticks anymore. We pray this finds you well as we think of you often.
Que Dios los bendiga, Ron and Beverly

What are we doing??

So what is the Goldendale Christian Fellowship (GCF) doing or plans to do? Several things, first, support for the childrens' home in Guatemala, Nido del Aguila; secondly scholarships for children attending the Solola' Christian School; thirdly, promoting a short term mission to Guatemala; and fourth, working with Wheels for the World to develop a "Chair Corps" in Yakima.

The childrens home, Nido del Aguila (Eagle's Nest) was started in 2003 by Larry and Claire Boggs at an abandoned resort near Solola. Larry and Claire have been in Guatemala since 1978 as missionaries and have had a childrens home in Xela for over twenty years when they started looking for a larger facility. Nido del Aguila was the answer to their prayers as both a retreat center for local and Christian groups and a childrens' home. The retreat center helps pay some of the overhead of the childrens' home, but it does not pay it all. Last year, Eagle's Nest had nearly eighty children. Their purpose was to find adoptive Christian parents in the United States for all of their children. Fortunately, most of the children were in the adoption process by the end of 2007 because the law changed and now no new foreign adoptions are being permitted. Now facing this reality, Eagle's Nest no longer has funds coming from new adoptions as there are no new foreign adoptions and local adoptions are rare. Thus as the childrens' home shifts from seeking adoptive parents to being the adoptive parents, they need sponsors for each child. You can help through sponsoring a child at www.eaglesnestint.org. You can save us the PayPal costs by pledging and paying directly through us.

Public education in Guatemala is grossly underfunded and bordering on chaos. Small private schools are filling the void, but they too struggle as most of the population is poor. The Solola Christian School is one such school. They have 50 students from kindergarten to sixth grade. The school term is from January to November. It costs $20-$25 per student each month for their school tuition and supplies. Thus, for $250 a year or less, a child can get a better education and a Christian world view. If you can pledge to pay $20-25/ month for ten months, you will enable the Solola Christian School to enroll one more student. However, we need to know of your commitment by year end so the student's materials are ordered. send a e-mail to me if you want to provide a scholarship for 2009. You will know your scholarship recipient and their progress.

Many people question the need and effectiveness of short term mission teams. They claim that the money could be better spent if they just sent the money and stayed home. An observation is that I have never heard those concerns from anyone who has actually gone on a short term mission trip. Short term mission teams can and do reach out to many and provide a positive witness for Jesus Christ. More importantly, the mission trip creates a higher awareness for the persons involved of God's love, fellowship, purposes and Glory. A short term mission is not just about serving others but also knowing and serving God in the process. Beverly and I have worked with many short term missions and seen the positive results for those being served and for those serving. There are many needs that we could meet in Guatemala with a short term mission team. We can help you make your short term mission trip a success. If you are interested, contact us.

Wheels for the World is a ministry of Joni Earickson Tada. They collect wheelchairs, walkers, exercise equipment, etc., send it to one of the helping prisons to be restored and then send to a third world country with a mission team to give and fit for those in need. Our participation is in developing a "Chair Corps" in Yakima to find, collect and store the needed wheelchairs and other equipment. We have two storage units nearly full already. You can help as a volunteer and help by donating to cover some of our expenses.

Beverly and I plan to return to Guatemala for six months in October to enable Larry and Claire Boggs to stay in the states to spend the holidays with family and to raise funds. Please "bookmark" our blog as our future posting will keep you up to date. Que Dios vos bendiga.
Ron