The Gang from Chimal

Alex, Dick, Cesar, Kevin, David, Marcos, Brian and David

With the end of classes, many things have changed in our house.  Both Cesar and Fernando have returned to Chimaltenango for the vacation, and have decided they miss it too much to come back to Antigua in January.  They are looking for places to study in Chimal, but since most of the schools are closed for vacation right now, there’s not a lot they can do until January 2.  Pray that there is space where they want to go, especially for Cesar who will be in a government school.  Fortunately they are still enrolled in there schools here in Antigua, and can return here if they can’t find schools in Chimal.

Carlin, one of Dick’s first kids, and one who has grown each day to be more godly young man, graduated from Basico this year.  He wants to study tourism, and he’s one of the few kids I would encourage to do so.  He is great with teams of North Americans, has the right personality for this work, and speaks very good English.  The bonus of this is that he wants to go to school in Antigua and will live with us, come mid-January.  Carlin was the young man who originally trained our workers last Holy Week, and I am so excited to have him become part of our family while he pursues his studies.

Miguel also graduated this year, from Diversificado, the equivalent of our high school.  This accomplishment, which is my no means normal in Guatemala (most are lucky to complete Basico), is even more remarkable when you realize he has been working 5 days a week since he was 14 years old (he’s 22 now) and attending school either nights or weekends.  He would like to continue on to University, and some day hopes to be a psychologist.

Bethel Ministries and Hope Haven Ministries once again held their joint camp this November.  Many of the boys were very involved volunteering at the camp, and were a great blessing to the volunteers from North American—many of whom were a bit squeamish about changing diapers, especially on the adults.  Our guys pitched right in!  We’re so proud of them.

With Dick traveling, it’s given a number of the guys the opportunity to travel with him.  Cesar has turned into an expert mechanic and translator, and got to visit the Mayan ruins in Tikal as well as help out at two distributions.

Marcos and David served as chaperones as Dick and I traveled to Huehuetenango.  It was fun to watch Marcos visit with the families, especially talking to the men, and he is turning into a really good translator as he gains more confidence in his English.  He is a blessing to me, because when I am translating, he intuitively knows what I’m trying to say in Spanish and helps me when I get stuck!

Brian, David, Esbin and Marcos continue to work weekends as assistants for Fidel and Alberto.  They have been joined by Miguel and Cesar’s older brother, Tony, who will be joining our staff full-time in January.  He is currently driving a tuk-tuk in Chimaltenango, and this is becoming increasingly dangerous with the gang activity there.  He will add greatly to our family.

The guys don’t look too overworked,
do they?                 

Soccer (futbol here) continues to be a driving force in the lives ofll the boys.  I pray that someday they will invest as much energy in their future wives and families as they do in this sport.  For now, though, it’s a good outlet for their never-ending energy.  Cesar has even had the opportunity to coach a team of younger boys, thanks to Dick’s sponsorship.

You can see, there’s never a dull moment with these guys, and I am grateful for the role they play in keeping me (and Dick) young!