After lunch we headed out to a field in the middle of no where that Dick and the boys had discovered on Saturday. This is the season in Guatemala for flying kites, and the kids flew kites till their hearts' content, or until the kites got away from them. It seems that the objective of kite flying is somewhat different in Guatemala. The kids like the challenge of seeing how close they can fly to each other, or to trees or power lines, before they get caught up. They also love to fly their kites so hight that the string breaks and the kite gets away. It was a perfect kite flying day, and I have to admit Dick found the perfect place to do this. It felt and even looked like a harvested corn field in Nebraska, so I felt right at home!
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| Believe it or not, Carlen got this one down! |
Next to this field was a pond, or really a mud hole, where the kids went "fishing" after the kites were gone. Fishing in this instance was using kite string and left over chicken from lunch to catch what looked to me like crawdads. The boys tried to gross me out by handing them to me, but fortunately my own four kids, and all the kids I've taught over the years, have trained me not to flinch. I have to admit, though, that holding them was not my favorite part of the day, but at least it got them to stop trying to scare me with these creepy-crawlies.
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| Elder preparing |
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| Elder waiting. . . |
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| The reward! |
Sitting watching the kids just be kids, and enjoying the peace of this place, I couldn't help but think of the "hundredfold" blessing Jesus promised to those who left home and family for his sake (Matt. 19:29). It had been difficult leaving my kids and grandsons this time, but as I sat watching these kids, I knew I was experiencing a taste of this blessing promised by Jesus. It was absolutely incredible.
The tone of the day changed rather suddenly when I heard Tony tell me to give him my camera, which he immediately tossed in brush. At the same time I heard Dick saying, "Pat, we're in trouble." I looked up to see two masked young men, and slowly realized we were being robbed. I even more slowly recognized that one of the men was holding a rather large gun (which Dick later told me was a 45), and seemed rather nervous as he swung it around rather haphazardly. They very calmly told us they only wanted things that were valuable, and Dick handed over his cash, though manage to keep his credit card and wallet! Watching him, you would have thought he did this every day, he was so slick! Then they asked for my purse. I'd left it laying in the field (Dick maintains this proves I deserved to lose it) and, after considering lying to them that I didn't have one, told them where it was. It sounds crazy, but all I could think of was that, confronted with this evil, I wasn't going to feed into it with a lie. I also had no intention of angering a nervous young guy with a gun. The good part of this was, that because they really wanted my purse, they left us rather quickly, and didn't bother any of the kids. The banditos took my purse, quickly went through the truck, and were on their way. (I have to admit, for a fleeting second, I thought about asking the bandits if I could take their picture. I thought better of it, though, when I realized that to do this I would have to admit to tossing my camera in the brush! Yes, guess I might be overdoing the photo thing just a little!)
I have to admit this is not something I want to repeat, but also have to admit that thinking about the possibility of being robbed at gunpoint was actually scarier than experiencing it. It is another testimony to the effectiveness of your prayer support, and the presence of His Holy Spirit with us, that we all remained totally calm throughout this. We praise God that none of us were hurt, nothing irreplacable was lost, we were all together and we were left with our vehicle! A friend from the States asked if I gave the robbers any tracts, and I didn't, though they did take off with my small Bible. If only it had been a Spanish Bible, maybe they would have gotten the point!
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| The group that can now say, "We survived flying kites in Guatemala!" |
I've also revised one of my favorite sayings: "Dick takes me the nicest places, where I meet the most interesting people!" Thanks, Dick, for another "first" experience as part of my missionary career! (Wonder what it means that he's been here 10 years and was never robbed until I came along. . .)
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