Within 24 hours: earthquake, a dog sheds tears of blood, and....band practice

     I've never felt the earth move under my feet... until today.  I was sitting at my desk sending out some emails when i noticed the fan on the floor to my left was beginning  to casually walk across the room. This spectacle integrated itself with some semi-incoherent screaming in which i was able to make out the word "earthquake!"  The next situation which dominated my awareness was that my feet and legs gave the same illusion and sensation as if i were surfing, only sitting down. The soundtrack to my first earthquake was that of a very low and dull frequency that could have been the earth, the building, or just something completely made up in my own head, i'm really not all too sure.  Quickly my mind raced back through it's archives of old movies I'd seen depicting earthquakes, instructional safety tapes i'd seen in school, and random things i'd overheard or been told to do in this very event, but before I could take action it was over.  Not only was it over, it had been really small.  There was no damage, no power outages, and I don't even think Hunter got out of bed to investigate.  But it was surely an interesting experience and from what I'm told a little taste of what's to come.

      This is Chris (the director at Hogar de la Roca) and one of his dogs named Perla.  Perla has a condition referred to as cherry eye and it is apparently common in her breed.  when I met Perla her left eye was almost completely covered by large inflamed red bubble.  From what Chris tells me it seems her tear ducts got infected, and swelled out of her face and made her almost blind in one eye.  Chris took her in for surgery and when we brought her home he administered the post operation eye drops.

     Needless to say it didn't go so well.  I t was clear as soon as Chris administered the drops that they were burning her eyes.  Shortly after came the blood.... a lot of blood.  The pictures you are seeing are only from the aftermath.  I was too busy helping Chris comfort his dog and contain the blood to even think about pictures in the moment.
     From what the vet told us the dog must have opened a stitch on her tear duct and then when Chris administered the eye drops it created a reaction that caused Perla to in essence cry tears of blood.

     Time and time again Chris would get the bleeding to stop by applying pressure, but because Perla's eyes hurt so much she was always pawing at them and re-opening the wound. We spoke about the possibility of finding a vet but 24 hour emergency animal hospitals at a reasonable price is a lot to ask in Guatemala. i knew we needed a dog-cone so Chris got some cardboard and staples and improvised.  To his credit the cone came out great, but despite his best efforts that cone was the LAST thing Perla felt like dealing with after her surgery and recent ordeals.  She tore it off of herself in seconds.
     Just when we had done everything we could and the situation was looking pretty desperate her eye just stopped bleeding.  She looked exhausted so we allowed her in the cage with her puppies (Perla is a mom) and she slept like a rock.  When we checked on her this morning the incision in her eye hadn't reopened, even with the four little puppies and their sharp little claws moshing all around her in their crate. 

     Every third Sunday of the month we open our home and hold a church service in which we invite the  community.  The other ministries we are affiliated with in Guatemala, friends and families of the students, and local people from the neighborhood are all encouraged to come and participate.

     Danny (left) is a kind-hearted local music student and faithful volunteer at the program.  He is also an  incredibly talented musician.  The three of us will be the worship group at the church service and today we had our one and only rehearsal.  With songs like "Todo Poderoso", "Maravilloso", and " Cantara de tu Amor" on the set list i had a definite crash course into Guatemalan praise and worship music.

    

     

      I was speaking with one of the students in the house after the earthquake and he was telling me that many people who live in Guatemala do so in a sort of strained state and underlying  fear of impending natural disasters.  It's warranted due to this country's history and capacity for disaster.  From the roof-top of our home I can see at least one if not two large and active volcanoes close by.  You may wonder if they ever erupt?  To answer that question, i'll tell you that the guys and myself spent part of the daily chore time just this morning cleaning mounds of black volcanic ash that are all over our street from a recent eruption.  We cleaned it up because we like the front of the house to look nice, but also because it's slippery!  i wiped out HARD like four times in my first basketball game with the guys.  I mean, my team still won but I got kinda banged up and embaressed ya know?.  Also the Capital of Guatemala used to be Antigua (which is a beautiful city), but some time ago a massive earthquake devastated it so severely that the capital was moved to Guatemala City.

     Luke 21:  10-11  "But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately...Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will fearful sights and great signs from heaven."

     Apparently these are conditions we are all subject too, even if it makes us uncomfortable.  The bible is a book of hope for people who choose to adopt it.  Even so, the text above was written about two thousand years ago and it predicts a lot of pretty devastating and horrifying things that 

"must come to pass"  and are materializing right before our eyes.  And yet the scripture opens with the phrase, "do not be terrified."  What is the answer to not being terrified in the face of all this potential and eminent disaster?

     Hope:  is a great place to start. 

Romans 8:18-25 (excerpts) "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us...For we know that the whole creation groans and labors in the pains of child-birth right up to the present time. For creation was subjected to frustration, not by it's own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from it's bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God"...

  - this image of nature groaning vividly conjures up my experience in the earthquake.  Nature, the earth itself, is "conscious" of the desperate state it finds itself in.  Mother Earth knows she's been mistreated, polluted and raped of her resources.  Moreover, I believe nature is somehow a conscious witness to all the horrible things we sometimes do to each other and ourselves, and further, that an earthquake is an outward expression of its frustration and restlessness. Due to these things, all creation has fallen from the perfect state in which God created it and therefore can't fulfill it's purpose . It waits in eager expectation to be liberated and transformed.

     "(text continued)...Not only so, but we ourselves groan inwardly as we eagerly await the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved.  but hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we eagerly await it with patient perseverance."

       We are all going to face difficult circumstances, "they must come to pass." And we aren't always going to deal with them well or like the outcome of the events.  But we can actively find a personal way of beginning to replace fear with hope. It is easy to live in fear and discouragement if we only focus on what our eyes see.  We know that sorrow, sickness, and disaster in one form or another lies

 before us.  And we also know that all our paths eventually lead to death.  Contrastly, in light of all this darkenss there are so many beautiful things to enjoy and experience right here and now, and with all my heart i encourae you to do them.  And not only to do them, but be acutley present and wonderfully alive in all those tremendous settings and situations you are sure to find yourself in this beautiful creation called Earth. But with regard to the end of the road, i gently urge you to take that same free spirit one step further.  Allow yourself, if just for a moment, to dream of a life that continues even after you close your eyes. Where even after your last breath you will awaken again....somewhere...with nothing to fear.  Just let your mind go....... and hope.   

Gleaning...how to eat when your poor.

     Thursday mornings we (the guys from Hogar De La Roca) go to the market with no money, empty sacks, and high hopes.
      I am going to dedicate a post soon to explain thoroughly exactly what "Hogar de la Roca" means, but for our purposes so far it is important to know that it is a faith-based residential program designed to help people in Guatemala with life controlling issues such as substance abuse, learn to lead productive and meaningful lives. It is also important to know that we have little to no funds as the Government doesn't support us financially and most of the people who come to the program come with literally only the clothes on their back.  We have money in our budget for tortillas and  black beans, which we literally eat for breakfast and dinner every single day!  The lunch is the big meal of the day in Guatemala and that is where Thursday morning market runs come into play.

Ruth 2:2  One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "let me go out into the harvest field to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it"      That is called gleaning and that is exactly what we do.  What you see in the photo above is a student from our program, Edgar, going with myself to every merchant and is asking for any vegetables or fruits that aren't able to be sold due to being damaged, nearly rotten, or too small.  We have a flyer that explains what our ministry is about and it is kind of an ID tag for us.  However most of the people spot edgar a mile a way by now and either wave us over or shoo us away.

   This is a beautiful example of people in need helping people in need, as well as a testimony to God's faithfulness.  The vendors are under no obligation to give us even rotten vegetables, yet often times we leave with stuff that is in pretty great shape and just needs a good cleaning and maybe a section cut away.  We learn to work with what we get too.  For example we may get three cartons of broken eggs, so we load them on the truck carefully and bring them home.  We pour the eggs out of the broken shells into a bowl and have scrambled eggs ready to go in the fridge for the next week or so.  Scrambled eggs go great with beans and tortillas by the way.

     Whether it is a good day, or not so good day at the market there are always a few faithful people we can count on consistently to help us.  This woman fills a bag for us every time before we even ask.  Today we gave her a couple of the sweet bananas we got at another stand as a thank you.

     We literally filled a truck with avocados, carrots, papayas, eggs, limes, oranges, cilantro,verduras, and some other veggies I don't know the name of yet.  Not bad at all for a day of Gleaning in a third world country!

Leviticus 19: 9-10  When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop.  It is the same with your grape crop-do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall onto the ground.  Leave them for the poor and foreigners living among you.  I am theLord your God.
     Why does God allow people to starve?  This is a seemingly reasonable question that is commonly asked.  However when we really look into it, we see that world hunger isn't so much a problem that God created, as much as it is a problem we create and re-create on a daily basis.  The text from Leviticus above is part of God's original plan for his people. It's part of the "sabbath laws" outlined in Leviticus 19, and more predominately in Leviticus:25.  If you have a bible i strongly encourage you to read chapter 25 as God outlines a plan that if followed by his people would end permanent poverty and hunger.  It's brilliant and fool-proof but it comes against our human nature too much and was never followed properly.  One thing remains clear however, God has a heart for the poor and expects us to use the same abilities we care for ourselves with, to care for the poor as well. 
     God didn't make too many people and not enough food.  In fact I once read a statistic that said the U.S. harvests enough grain in one year to feed the whole world two times over.  This is easy to believe when you think of every dunkin donuts, bakery, subway, and fast food restaurant across the country throwing away garbage bags full of good food every single night.  So it quickly becomes clear that world hunger isn't a creation problem, but a distribution problem.  We as people have complete dominion over our food and too often we either hoard, mis-distribute, or waste precious food that our fellow-man desperately needs. 
     I may be in Guatemala now, but I'm from Hartford CT, and there are plenty of hungry people there too.  Looking back, I wasn't the best steward of my food.  I encourage all of us to find ways to actively contribute to end world hunger, even if it is just by one meal and mouth at a time.  Let me tell you from experience, even a bag of nearly rotten vegetable is wildly appreciated when your hungry.

Introduction: A year in the life of a guatemalan missionary

            Packing up most of your stuff, including your dog, and moving to Central America for a year isn't something you do every day.  It gets even a bit more obscure when you do it solely because God told you too. 

            This blog is designed for three main purposes:

1. To update and remain connected with friends, family, and kind people who are supporting me emotionally, financially, or prayerfully.
2.  To portray a unique insight to the daily life in Guatemala, with a focus on the ministry of "Hogar De La Roca" through the eyes of this particular and peculiar American missionary.
3. To show God's Glory, Greatness, and Love in action amongst people with so great a need,  that are yet so rich in the blessings of a beautiful land and culture.

 I hope to post often, if not nearly every day, but I ask for forgiveness if there are gaps and lapses as this blog is secondary to the demanding amount of actual work I will be doing over the next year.

It is my desire that in sharing my endeavor in this forum, that both myself and any potential participants will be led in some small way to contemplation, meditation, laughter, awe, or any other height or plateau of the human spectrum of emotion .  In short, I hope it makes us think, or feel something at some point.

God-bless