Wow....time flies when you're living in Guatemala!

It really has flown, and we're quickly approaching our time to return to the US for furlough. This isn't a vacation furlough, this is a hard work furlough. We have to increase our financial support if we want to stay on the field in Guatemala. So, 4 churches and 6 rallies means every weekend is booked. Time during the week will be spent meeting with people and riding from place to place. We no longer have a vehicle, and so we will ride. Bill's bike and a bike a friend is graciously loaning to me for the summer.

What have we been up to the past couple of weeks? Hmmm....we built a firepit and it was tested last weekend by a youth group from Guatemala City. Great kids who came up for a retreat. It was fun hearing young voices, and watching the pranks they pulled on each other. The weather was beautiful, and so water balloons and dodgeball were a part of their breaks. I think the kids must have spent at least 4 hours by the fire on Saturday night.

The mission house is a wonderful place to rest, relax and reach the Lord. We love it here. We've been doing maintenance before rainy season, with help from our Guatemalan friends. The garage roof was replaced, and then sealed, and the outer walls are being sealed with a waterproof material. This will stop the infiltration of the water through the blocks and keep the whole house healthier!

The driveway between the second and third lots is also under repair. The massive amount of rain we received last year caused several landslides, and the driveway was quickly becoming impassable. After the prolonged waiting period to get a permit to clear and widen the drive, work began in earnest today.  One of the lessons we have learned here in Guatemala is that it happens on Guatemalan time, not US time. If someone says they will be a certain place at a certain time in the US, unless there's a major catastrophe, they are usually there. Here in Guatemala, someone might say they'll be there at a certain time and place, but they might not get there for days.

The other issue is not getting your panties in a twist over paperwork delays. The gentleman doing the construction tried for a month to get the permit. He kept returning to the Muni office, but...  :) The same goes for our passports. Since we left the country in February, that gave us 90 days as "tourists". After that, you have to go to the Immigration office and get your passport stamped for another 90 days. We took the passports into the city, to the Immigration office, and were told to return in 1 week to pick them up. So....we went back to the city last Friday, and wouldn't you know it, Immigration was closed. Argh! We have to return to the city next Monday, so we'll try to pick them up then.  Poco a poco...step by step.

Hopefully, we'll see some of you in the States. If not, keep reading. I'll try to do a weekly blog while we're gone.

God Bless y'all!

Lisa