Gotta Go, Go, Go, Go, Go

Yes, it’s been awhile. Time seems to slip by fast when you’re really busy. Most of you probably know that we made an unexpected trip back to the states for a few days to attend the funeral of Jennifer’s grandmother, Dora Lee Stewart. She was an amazing woman who loved God, and her family. She struggled with Alzheimer’s disease the last two years of her life, but no more. She is dancing and singing with Jesus now, with her memory intact and not a care in the world. We are thankful for the life of love she gave us as an example to live by.

            

We were able to see God’s divine plan by working out all of our flight plans on our return trip Friday. We had someone new to worry about as well. We welcomed Nick Meinhardt into our family, as he joined us on our return to Guatemala. Nick is an awesome young man, who has decided to spend the rest of his summer serving the people in Santa Rosa el Rodeo. It’s also great to have an extra pair of hands helping out with Cadence and work on the property. Anyway, Nick was loaded down with plenty awesome goodies such as Peter Pan peanut butter, beef jerky, tuna fish, and more than enough puffs for Cadence to last awhile. Unfortunately, someone also thought that tuna fish was priceless, and decided to use their “five-finger” discount and take every can of tuna that was in Nick’s bag. Maybe they will choke on it. Just kidding.

           

On Saturday, we arrived in Santa Rosa Rodeo for a long day of work….concrete. If you’ve ever had the privilege to work with a concrete crew in Guatemala, you know it is no easy task. All of the mixing is done by hand; well, with hoes, shovels, and a wheelbarrow. Concrete is now in the “kitchen” building, the “hombres” house, and the material building.

            

On Sunday, we attended the 2^nd worship service with the people of el Rodeo. Pastor Max has a wonderful extended family, and his brother and some members from his brother’s church attended, and provided worship leadership. As with all church planting, you really never know how many people to exactly expect, and we are still in the very early stages.

            

So far this week, we now have 4 men working on the foundation. They are also living on the church property during construction. Jennifer has nicknamed them the “ninja turtles”. Crazy, we know. Starting Wednesday, we had an additional 3 men working on the property Jennifer may possibly have to invent a new name since it will be 8 men now.

            

Please pray that these men will hear the gospel and encounter salvation. Also, pray for the integrity of all the men who pick up a shovel, axe, or wheelbarrow. Also pray for our patience. As Americans, we want everything our way and done yesterday. Everywhere else in the world, things happen when they happen, and no one really gets in a rush for anything. We are working, on a deadline now, as we are trying to get to a certain point with the church building before groups begin coming in next week. WOW. Next week. We have so, so, so much to do!           

            

Also, please to continue to pray for Cadence, as she now has 2 teeth coming in, and is trying to be more & more independent with walking. It’s not easy keeping her clean, so please continue to pray for health and safety. We have also discovered what we call “baby crack” for Cadence…Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which kept her happy on the plane rides, and always calms her down if she seems to be pitching a fit. She has picked up the words “go, go, go, go, go ” from one of the songs on the episode we downloaded.  Those words are really fitting to describe our family right now. Between traveling to the United States, gathering supplies in Guatemala, and traveling to the village we seem to go, go, go, go, go!

            

Pray for us as we continue to “speak in tongues” as God allows us to speak and understand Spanish beyond our knowledge at times. And pray Satan away! He always chooses to kick us when we are down, and undertaking a project like this requires Satan to stay away and things to go as smoothly as possible.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU DO AND ALL YOUR PRAYERS!! 

(Jennifer wrote this blog, as I am sure you can tell)