List making

I am a list maker. I make lists about pretty much everything...what to buy at the store, what errands to run, what plans to make, who to call, what restaurants I want to try...you get the idea. Well, being on sabbatical has put a crimp in my list making rountines. I mean, I had many, many lists before I left on this adventure...but now, my list (if I make one at all) is for one or two things at the La Bodegoda (supermercado) or maybe a new place to visit. It is so much less clutter for my mind to only have to think about Spanish verbs, where to go for lunch, and remembering to buy a new jug of water on Saturday mornings (Q15..with home delivery). I guess God heard Pastor Steve's prayer when he prayed that I do no work while I am on sabbatical....

It's about relationships

I have now been in Guatemala for 3 weeks and it is still amazing. Each day I see something new, I try something new, I learn new words and I find out somethings else I want to do while I am here. I've climbed an active volcano, I've had black sand from the Pacific Coast between my toes, and I have removed the outer shell of a dried coffee bean. This is definately a summer to remember.

And yet...(isn't there always something).....and yet something is missing. I spent some time reflecting on what was not settling well with me, what was missing from my experience here in Antigua and I finally realized it was relationships. I am meeting many people through the language school and who live near me....but they are all North Americans. Apart from the teachers and the secretary at the language school....I only interact with the Guatemalans when I am shopping or eating out. Without the language skills needed, it is difficult to engage locals...although it is funny how even speaking with North Americans is sometimes hard....I love to ask questions and hear stories...I am not sure people always like to tell me things, especially when to them we have no context to have a relationship. (I say "to them" because in my mind we have a common bond by coming to Guatemala...not usually the first country people think of when they want to go on vacation).

This is certainly a different experience than when I travel down here for the mission trips. The whole point of the mission trips is relationships. When we travel for 2 days into the Peten it is for the sole purpose of sharing our lives with the lives of the people of Nueve Guatemala. I miss Don Salvadore and Don Pablo. I want to find out how tall Jaime is and see if there are any new families in the church. What new English words has Geronimo learned? Has Gregorio had another child?

My time here in Antigua is to learn the Spanish language. I know it will help me, in the long run, to have deeper relationships with our friends in Guatemala. But each day, I miss my friends in the Peten and I long to be with them again.

Missing OSLC

Things these past few weeks have been great, but hectic. It is a lot of mental work to learn to live within a different culture. Plus, I have really enjoyed teaching my sons how to appreciate cultural differences and enjoy experiencing new things.

But this morning I was able to take a peek at a church service at Our Saviors. As the youth were being blessed for their trip to the Youth Gathering, I realized how much I missed everyone.

May God continue to watch over everyone at OSLC! I look forward to hearing how summer went back in Circle Pines.

Catholic/Lutheran Dialogue

My Spanish instructor is Belli (short for Ana Isabela) and she is about 50 years old, with two grown children and a beautiful smile. She is a little shorter than me, has dark curly hair, and she is very nice to work with. Belli is also Catholic, so when she asked me what I did, I told her I was a pastor and instead of being dismayed or confused, she just said, "that's good," and went on to explain that there were no female pastors in Guatemala. Then as we finished for the day, the first thing she told the other teachers was that I was a pastor and wasn't that neat. Despite never having met a female pastor before, she accepted me for who I am.

Then today we actually talked more about the differences and the similarities between the Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church. She wanted to lump Lutherans in with all the other protestant churches in Guatemala, but many of them are quite evangelical and have a more decision-based theology. So we shared with one another about infant baptism, confirmation, and first communion. She was surprised at how many similarities there are and she was very open to learning about the differences. She wrapped up our conversation by saying that she enjoys having a student that she can talk about her faith with. Too often, she has students that don't believe in anything and that makes her quite sad and concerned. Her faith is important to her and it was such a joy for me to hear her speak so freely about it. She still doesn't understand why we don't pray to Mary..she compared it to when a child asks mom to ask dad for something....and I do understand her point of view. It is interesting to me how easy people get riled up when someone believes differently than they do...but why? Why is it so difficult to simply share and learn and seek understanding?

It certainly is a God-thing when we do...and if Belli and I, speaking two different languages, can have such a dialogue....I definately saw God in action today.

Getting Settled

Wednesday morning I awoke to a brilliant sunshine. I spent some time in prayer, asking God to bless our apartment search and provide for us a place to call home this summer. After I showered, we began to pack up in preparation of moving out of the hotel. But by 10:30 am there was still no word from Leanora who was trying to set up some apartments for us to visit. So I decided to go and get a cell phone and then contact another realty agency. We met with Isabella who was able to find two properties for us to look at. Seth, Sean and I hopped into her car and went to an apartment owned by Americans, John and Mary Ann. They own a house and then next to their house is a small courtyard that contains four rentals. We saw a very clean and surprisingly large 2 bedroom apartment with laundry and I decided on the spot that this was it.

The address? Callejon del Espiritu Santo (Holy Spirit Street). Ha! Talk about an obvious God-thing. It was a fast day...we paid deposits and rent and brought our luggage over. But we also began our language instruction at Academia Colonial (newer school...owned by a man named Jean-Paul from New Orleans). We spent about 3 hours with our teachers and the boys really enjoyed it. Me? I was really tired from the events of the day, but spent time reviewing las frutas (fruits) and the verb tenir (to have).

Since we were so tired, for dinner we decided to order Dominos. Our neighbor, Rick, an American from South Carolina who is exporting Mayan goods, helped us locate the phone number and our landlord, John, spoke on the phone to make sure our order was correct. It is certainly nice to have people willing to help us out.

With the setting of the sun, we were in bed...in our home away from home. God had certainly blessed our day.