New Years Greetings!

My, it has been a long time since we wrote.  We are truly sorry!  Here is an update of what has happened since, well, September.

Our basic daily life is pretty boring really, unless you count the traffic jams, psycho motorcycle drivers, people riding hanging off busses, firecrackers at 5 am....I guess for us it is boring - the rest of y'all should come visit to remind us that our normal has changed.

Seriously though, our day to day life is not filled with directly helping orphans, feeding hundreds, or healing the sick.  We wake up, go to school, have rehearsals and piano lessons, come home, eat and go to bed.  (Most of the time we remember to eat before collapsing into bed.  If we didn't have three hungry kids we would probably forget.  Although, if we didn't have three hungry kids we probably wouldn't be so tired at the end of the day either.)

So, we'll highlight the big events.

September was pretty uneventful - we had one day off of school during which we sat around the house.  Wait - there was one event.  Guatemalan Independence Day was celebrated in style at school with Sara doing a traditional dance with her class, and Abigail doing a dramatic recitation of a Spanish poem.  (Hard to imagine her being dramatic I know.)  Every day Joy, and some days the girls, had rehearsal until 6 or 6:30.  The dog did get groomed once during the month, for those of you who care about her needs.

This is a picture of Sara and her best friend ("though sometimes she is mean to me") in their "traje tipicos" worn by the Mayan here still.

Sara enjoying the music during the dance

Sara and her classmates lining up for the dance

Abigail dressed up as our national bird, the quetzal, about whom the poem was

October brought our annual Harvest Fair.  The theme was Mario (from Nintendo) and the girls went dressed as Koopa Troopa (a turtle), a knight, and a butterfly.  Not so close to the theme on a couple of those - but who has that kind of time or money, besides they chose and made their own costumes with help from Maribel.  Kenneth had the job of watching the girls as Joy is a class advisor and was helping work the sophomore class booth.  She was also a good sport (if she does say so herself) by participating in the pie in the face booth.  She made quite a bit of money for the juniors that night.  Not that she isn't well liked, she just teaches the whole school.  Really, we have lots of great testimonials about how well liked we are - we just don't share them - that would be kind of arrogant we think.  If you want to hear some though, let us know - we'll share :-).

One of the elementary kids letting her have it

At the end, pretty sure she had whipped cream in her ear for days

Emma the knight

                         Abigail the turtle                                                     Sara the butterfly

October was also the High School Retreat, which Joy had to chaperone.  It was great fun, but she realized she's not as young as she was when we did youth group staff and Snow Camp. Joy also spent most of October, and all of November, and well December battling some sort of laryngitis.  Since she really couldn't rest her voice she still hasn't fully recovered.  Some days he can sing, others not so much.  If it lasts much longer a doctor's visit will need to happen.  (Great, she loves doctors and communicating medical things in Spanish.)

November was the farthest thing from boring.  Rehearsals for the musical started going until 8 some days.  (That made for 13 - 14 hour days for the Eisners as we didn't get to go home between school and rehearsal like most others did.)  We also had lots of Saturday rehearsals.  It was SO worth it in the end though.  The musical productions are the one thing that our whole family does together, and it is a huge ministry to these students and joy for us to serve together.  On the 20 - 22 we presented Seussical the musical and it was a rousing success.  Even Joy thinks so, and she is pretty critical of her work.  We have only a few pictures, since well...we were kind of busy the whole time.  These are stolen from facebook.  (By the way - if you want to see pictures of the stuff we are involed in, and you are on facebook, like and follow the Christian Academy of Guatemala page on fb.)

The Cat in the Hat and Mayzie - both seniors who have been in our shows since year 1

Emma as Cindy Lou Who, posing with her teacher

Who knows what number this is - Joy choreographed it so she should, but not so much

Horton the Elephant and Gertrude - both first time on stage and phenomenal performers

Cast Picture - But this is only about HALF of the cast:  Yes, we are gluttons for punishment :-)

Abigail is in the second to last row, 2nd from the left in the orange - she really shone vocally in this performance (even in the shadow of the amazing student who played her mom)

So, that was it.  Just kidding!  We can't stop at one big production.  Two weeks later we begin the Christmas concert season.  In our last post we talked about getting a concert at our local mall.  It was a great success!  All the choirs sang, the band played, and the band director (who being Guatemalan has way better Spanish than us - go figure) was able to share the gospel..right there, in the mall, in the sound system.  The week after the mall concert we had our school wide concert on campus.  Even the preschoolers performed in that one.  We were able to use the new instruments that one of our supporters purchased and it was enjoyed by all.  (If you wish to see videos of that - go to our CAG facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CAGMKS and search for the Christmas concert section.)

The High School Choir - New concert attire!

Vox Laudis - audition only children's choir we started in January (E and A in front row)

The small, but extremely fun, middle school choir

The secondary girls and Vox Laudis singing Sleigh Ride

Joy with the Creative Arts Mission Statement we were asked to display at the mall

The preschool through 1st grade students at the school Christmas concert

The audience:  These are the missionaries who you support by supporting us as we educate their children.  Quite a big crowd - and that is not all of them!  (OK, some of those are Guatemalan family members so I guess it works out to be about the right size for the body we support.)

December 14 Emma turned 8 - and she and Abigail participated in the church Christmas pageant.

December 20-27 we had friends and supporters from the States come for a visit.  We had a big party at our house Christmas Eve (as is the tradition) to watch the midnight fireworks.  We spent part of Christmas day ministering at an orphanage.  It was so much more exciting than sitting around waiting for the turkey to cook!

December 30 Joy's Dad arrived.  He will be "snowbirding" here this year (and hopefully many other years - hint hint Dad.)  When he opened his lap top, and our blog was the home page, we realized what slackers (at least in blogging) we are and resolved to make it our home page so we feel guilty more often and take care of the problem.

December 31 - Joy and her Dad went to the hospital to visit a couple of kids from the orphanage who had taken ill.  Praise God they should be able to go home tomorrow - and remembered Joy and lit up when she went in the room.

Thanks for taking the time to read, or at least look at the pictures and skim (hey, we're realists.)  Hopefully we will not take so long to post next time.  May you have many blessings in 2015!  Thank you for your continued emotional, spiritual, and economic support which allows all of the above to happen

Who's really in charge here?

It was an experience like none I can remember in my directorial career.  The office was in the basement of a parking garage.  An armed guard stood at the entrance.  The waiting room was filled with various religious statues.  Not various as in Buddha next to Mary next to Jesus - all Catholic in nature.

Even with the armed guard at the door the experience could have taken place in North America, but the religious statues were a big reminder - "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."  (Of course, I've never actually been to Kansas....)  Now maybe the statues would have been there if I was at an Arch Diocese or something, but that's the thing - I was at the mall here in our town.  (Which probably shouldn't be called a town with a population of more than 650,000...)

Really the whole experience was kind of surreal, one of those parts of living here that I haven't had cause to get used to.  (The background is this:  as a creative arts department we are trying to get more involved with the community.  It was suggested to us that we try to perform during the Christmas season at this mall.)  I was going in there with my very American mindset.  I was concerned about being a representative of a Christian school, wanting to sing sacred music, and that they might just say no.  I went armed with videos of last year's choir and band and a mentally prepared (because this was to be all in Spanish of course) explanation of our desires.  After all, in most instances if I were walking into an American establishment with those conditions I would have cause for my concerns.

Those were instantly set at rest when I stared into the face of a lit up smiling saint of some sort.  I still could not imagine what would follow however.  We were dealing with the person we thought was in charge (I say we because I thankfully had a friend and parent of a choir alum along to help in any translation emergencies,) and after the usual greetings we sat and showed her the video.  It was difficult to tell from her face what her opinion was, and I was getting my proud director speech mentally ready.  That's when the real boss walked in.

First we realized that she was friends (or rather volleyball teammates) with one of our teachers at school - easy to tell since she had been referenced in a conversation earlier in the week as about to have a baby.  She greeted us with the traditional friendly kiss, not usual for a business meeting I don't think, and sat down to business.  At this point the secretary very excitedly told her she had to watch the video we had brought and started to talk about how good they were.  (Proud speech cancelled and replaced by proud smile.)

The conversation from there was a bit hard to follow for me at times, we went from talking about music to cancer to volleyball and back again a few times, but I can sum it up for y'all.  The first thing we were asked is if we would be willing to perform for Children's Day.  That was an easy "I don't think so" for me as Children's Day is next week.  The boss responded by telling me that it wouldn't have to be perfect (to which the parent snickered because she and many of you know me better than that.)  This opened up a conversation about how we train our students to treat performances as something that they are offering to God as a thank you for giving them talents.  That turned into a conversation about how her daughter is an artist and isn't getting any of that training.  That turned into how important we believe discipleship, and discipleship of artists as Christian artists is.  That turned into her asking us if when we perform (so now I guess we are approved) we could have a sign that talks about our beliefs and values for everyone to see.  Seriously - in a mall - they want us to talk about Jesus at Christmas.  How exciting!  (They were appalled to hear that in the USA that would be a very rare occurrence.  Not surprising considering most stores in malls here have nativity scenes in their windows - I should have thought of that.)

It was so humbling to see how God had orchestrated this entire thing.  It turns out that, as always, He is who was really in charge.  It was excited to hear that Abigail made all her friends stop and pray with her when it was time for the meeting.  It was uplifting to have a parent be so supportive of the program that she would give up her morning to come with me.

We left there with not only the opportunity to perform at Christmas (two times, with them doing publicity) but also an offer to do a few songs in costume before our show in November and have a ticket booth there for a weekend, and a request to prepare something for next Children's Day, bring our art classes there, have the ballet students perform, and other stuff that I can't remember.  But above all we can sing our sacred music, and they actually want us to talk about our beliefs and values.  Another day when I am absolutely enthralled with the ministry God has called me too, and the way He shows himself to me in ways that I totally get.

Thanks for your support and encouragement which is allowing us to be part of such great happenings!

Joy

And yes, I find it amusing that this morning Kenneth wrote about our seemingly boring existence (not that any day here is ever actually boring...)

Days Come and Days Go

When asked recently, "what's new?" I was forced to reply with, "Oh, nothing - same as before." Unlike some other missionaries, who split their time between C.A.G. and another mission, we are here for C.A.G. and the students/families therein. This is where God wants us and we're doing what we feel God wants us to be doing. We remain thankful to the numerous people and churches who continue to support us, both financially and prayerfully, so that we can remain here doing this important work.

We certainly applaud the other missionaries who are splitting their time. For sure they are reaching and helping different peoples and accomplishing many great and wonderful things for the Kingdom - and that is wonderful. They are where God wants them doing what they feel God wants them to be doing.

I believe I have figured out why we do not blog more often. There are not a lot of variances in our day-to-day activities. We rise, get ready for school, go to school, sit in traffic, do our various after-school-things, come home, do homework, get ready for bed, go to bed and sleep. Repeat. Oh, I forgot eat...

However, that said there are a couple things which some folks might find interesting: I continue to facilitate some street hockey on the weekends. We had an excellent turnout last weekend with four families. Great fun! Abigail participated in the recent Guatemalan Independence Day celebrations by performing a poem (en Español!) She was fantastic! Joy is continuing preparations for the upcoming musical. Emma continues to sing and dance (and from time-to-time chop people down with her light-sabre.) Sara has been with a low-grade fever for a couple days so we are nursing her back to health as best we can (rest & liquids.)

Not much else going on in these parts.
Blessings and Thanks to all!

-knm/jr/ac/eb/sje

Perspectives on the New Year

Overall the start of the year was just as crazy as every other year. There were times where I stepped back and said, "wow, we have this under control." Then, that was quickly dashed with a figurative fire here or a new teacher there... or a new family plus two students over yonder. We've included a few snippets from each of us - minus the dog, cats and bunny. They pretty much exists and their schedules are fairly uncomplicated.

Ken:  This past Sunday was the first day of recreational hockey! And man, what a hoot! We had a small turn out but really that doesn't matter. It was just a small taste of home in our own back yard (or school.) I've talked with a number of other families and they are excited to come out next week. I will be substitute teaching for the Elementary PE teacher later in September and a couple times in October so we will have opportunity to do some hockey with them. Just between you and me the thought of a bunch of kinder students running around with sticks is a wee bit unnerving but ya gotta start out somewhere, eh?

Ken, as goalie

Ken, as goalie, again

I've also been asked to serve on the Communications Committee at our local church. I know, some of you are saying, "... wait a moment - y'all aren't the greatest communicators and you are going to do what?!" ... And that is pretty much what I said but who knows... maybe some truly remarkable things will come of it, right?

On the note of the tech stuff - things continue to move along. The Tech Department has a number of projects we're working through. I continue to be blessed to have Edgard and Alan working with me (Greg has returned to teaching a full course load.)

Joy:  Busy, but "vale la pena" - it's going to be worth it.  Rehearsals are underway for Seussical the Musical, and my three choirs, and I am teaching a full load of classes.  I thank God daily for my husband pulling the weight (like all of it) with the family while I am at school from 8 - 6.  Mondays are a hard day as I teach 5 classes, 2 piano lessons, and an hour and a half of rehearsals.  (For that reason we will be switching our updates to a different night, so they will actually happen.)

Abigail:  "My teacher is crazy, she has lots of really fun ideas."  She is doing well in school, continuing with piano - though only needing to have lessons once a week.  (Praise God - that has saved us a lot of money!)  She is also taking ballet at school once a week, and quite a natural.  She is going to be the baby kangaroo in our musical.   Her relationships at school have gotten much stronger as she has grown and matured, and her classmates have too.

Emma:  "My favorite part so far is that today we got to eat every part of a plant, even the flower.  Every part was very, very good.  It was a sunflower plant."  (Who knew you could eat it all?  Not sure I believe it - since now she is telling me the stem was celery and the roots were carrots.)She loves her new teacher.  Her teacher is really new in fact, she signed on to teach classes the day new teacher orientation was due to start.  She has lots of experience in public schools in the States and used to live in Guate years ago.  Emma is excited to be able to join Vox Laudis, our elementary choir, this year.  Emma has also been leading worship up front in church most Sundays with a group of us.

Sara:  Well, what can you say - she's Sara.  Full of energy, laughs, and attitude.  Most of the time she is very sweet.  One of the Dads who also teaches was telling a story the other day about Sarita.  Apparently they were all running in the gym together, he was intentionally going slow.  She felt bad for him so she went back and held his hand and helped him get to the finish line.  (I have spied her doing that with other kids before too.)  It's those moments I hold on to when she gets a time out for telling her teacher "You don't control me."  Geesh!

We will try to post more interesting, cute stories of the kids and stories of our ministry.  Once we start updating on a different night, when we have brain cells left, that will be much easier.

Thank you for reading, and a special thank you to all who support us in prayer and financially.  We really couldn't do what we have been called to without you being on our sending team.

Blessings,
-knm/jr/ac/eb/sje + Snickers, Milkyway & Trixie

Summer?! Where are you going?

I can hardly believe that the summer is almost gone. We're already over the 4th of July hump. We have twenty-seven (27) days until I (Ken) start back to school for new teacher orientations. Classes resume in thirty-nine (39) days. While this is both terrifying and exciting we realize time is slipping away.

Certain hopes we had when the summer began are quickly evaporating.  We made a large list of summer fun ideas, many of which may get left out with the additional things we have had (and will have) opportunity to do.

One thing we added was a week spent with TJ Hanken and the missions team from Parkersburg, IA. This was an incredible week spent serving a family and church in a very difficult area of Villa Nueva. (The area is primarily settled by squatters who came in from the villages affected by the Civil War.) In a nutshell, a family of nine were living in a rustic tin shack on the side of the barranco (ravine.) By the time we joined the team they had already helped remove the old tin shack and had dug the trenches for the new concrete foundation. We were able to help with setting up the rebar forms, sifting sand, and unloading rock, sand, and concrete. All this was done to help, not take over for, the Guatemalan church with whom we were working.  There was a Guatemalan cement worker/architect in charge the entire time, and actually much time was spent sitting around talking with the church members who were there to do the build.

One day we took a break from this work and went to another church near the Guatemala City dump and helped serve food at a children's feeding center. This also was an eye opening experience.  Many of these children's families used to live in the dump and have since been displaced by the government.  Many ministries have been involved in the process of helping them relocate and caring for them.  The day to day life of the children, their survival, the fact that the meal we served them was probably their only hot meal of the day were very impactful to us.  We were also surprised to learn that it only costs the church (which is primarily made up of dump "workers") $100 a day to feed 260 children.

In addition to the physical labour we formed some new relationships, not only with the team, but with the local community church as well. Pastor Jorgé, Gerson, Mynor, Bryan, and Carlos - just to name a few. The work these folks are doing is just incredible.  Beyond building the home, they run a home for children whose parents can't care for them, a workshop where single moms can learn skills, and they work in conjunction with the public schools to form relationships with more children from the neighborhood.
Here are some photos we took from the week.

One other story from the week touched Joy. One of the young men in the church, Bryan, lives nearby. About three years back it was discovered that he had talent with the piano so the church paid for him to attend the national music education school. Three years later he is playing at a level which takes most people six to seven years to achieve. Sadly, who can tell how often this happens around the world? Undiscovered and unrealized talent which never gets the opportunity to shine due to the lack of opportunity. Thanks to God, and the church, at least for Bryan he has that opportunity.

Thanks to all who continue to support us both prayerfully and financially to make these opportunities possible.

Blessings,

The Eisner Family

Can I get your door?

5 years we have lived here, and today another first.

We drove into the parking lot of a local fast food place.  (We had found some money from teaching piano shoved in a pile of papers - so we pushed the easy button after church.)  The guards will always open the door of the restaurant for you.  Today, however, we had a guard that went above and beyond.

He directed us into a parking space (normal) and then proceeded to reach out and open Ken's door.  Now at that moment my brain immediately went to - we're done for, the guard is robbing us, Lord keep us safe.  No robbery.  Then he opens the sliding door, helps the girls out, takes Emma by the hand and walks her to the restaurant.  Needless to say one of us walked closely behind and the other was 10 feet parallel with eyes pealed.  Turns out he must be just a good guy that really likes his job - but boy that had me on edge.

I was sort of wishing some of you were here today to see first hand a little of what our girls experience here.  Beyond the overly friendly gun toting guard, there were the normally friendly restaurant people.  People here are drawn to our girls, mostly Sara because of her hair.  We get stared at, openly, every time we go out.  Today was no exception.

The older girls, especially Abigail, get pretty sick of it - but I swear Sara thinks it is the way life should be.  She has Guatemalan culture in her.  Here you greet people, even those you don't know.  You kiss those you do (on the cheek.)  Normally the two don't cross - unless you are Sara.  People seem to think it totally acceptable to pet her head, kiss her cheeks, grab her hands, pet her face, and ask to have her eyes.  She smiles (and soaks up the attention.)  Today, when a fellow eater was passing by the table and doting on Sara, she stood up greeted the woman with a hug and sat down like it was totally normal to talk to and hug strangers.  We didn't know that woman and will probably never see her again.  So un-northeast our third daughter is.

Please, pray that God will keep that culture in her - but help her to approach strangers with wisdom as she grows older.  Love our little Guatemerinadian.

What every little girl wants

Ok, so maybe every little girl wants a canopy not a mosquito net, but I guess it will have to do.  The mosquitoes have been so bad at our house for the girls have been waking up every morning with new bites.  Let's see what happens if they have to get up in the middle of the night, hopefully it won't fall down on their heads.

Abigail left for missionary kid camp today.  She was so excited to go but then got very sad when it was time for us to leave.  Please join us in praying that she will have an excellent week.

One of the good things

There are certainly many not so great things about living here in Guatemala.  But one of the best things is when I have summer vacation and I can go to the vegetable market.  Armed with 275 quetzales (which is about 36 dollars) and my empleada, to help me get better prices, we left this morning at 9 o'clock for the huge vegetable market across town.  We came home with all that you see in the picture below and more.   I'll give you a list just so you can get some idea of how much you can get here. 
one piece of fresh ginger
1 pound of sugar snap peas
8 ears of corn
10 zucchini
4 pounds of strawberries
8 plantains
4 pounds of green beans
4 pineapple
8 carrots
1 pound of mushrooms
3 heads of broccoli
10 pounds of potatoes
3 pounds of sweet potatoes
1 bag of sesame seeds
4 pounds of onions
4 bunches of scallions
8 sweet peppers
2 celery
6 avocados
2 pounds of grape tomatoes
10 roma tomatoes
5 oranges
6 apples
A rubber duck
And 2 dozen long stem roses  (just those alone would cost that much in many other places)

No just so you don't get too jealous, I then had to go to the store and buy ziplock freezer bags at 40 cents each in order to freeze the vegetables so they don't go bad in the humidity.  We won't get into how much safe meat costs.  Just know if you ever come to visit us, you'll be eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies.

Year #5 Nearly in the Books

Wow... the past five months have absolutely blown by! I cannot praise God enough for how amazing this half year has been. This semester has had its challenges but overall it has been truly amazing.

Recently we have had the pleasure of seeing our girls, Abigail and Emma, both participate in the C.A.G. talent show. Also, Abigail and Emma both performed at their piano recital - truly amazing. Finally, this past week was the C.A.G. spring concert - "Arts of Many Lands: an Exhibition", which was webcast. Again the evening and the worship was truly amazing - all glory given to God.

As we look forward to the coming summer we do so with excitement. Both Joy and I have a lot of work to do over the summer. Yet we are planning on taking some time to relax with the children.

In the meantime we are preparing information for the upcoming Missions Team from our home church, Dover Baptist Church. Presently the team is planning on arriving in Guatemala on Saturday, 27 December 2014 and returning to Dover on Saturday, 3 January 2015. This is super exciting for us as it is the first team sent from our church. Beyond the team coordinator, Rick Odess, we do not yet know who all will be on the team. We encourage everyone to spend time in prayer - listening to see if God might be prodding you come along and minister here in Guatemala. If you feel so led please talk with Rick Odess - he can take care of you.

Well - that about covers it. Thank you all, again, for your continued prayers and financial support.

Blessings!

-knm/jr/ac/eb/sje

Don't Blink or the "Break" will be gone!

I continue to marvel at just how fast "break" can pass.

I believe that for the first time we did not have anything "big" planned for break. Normally we'll try to do this, or do that - get away for the first couple of days to some economical place. Not this year. Sure, we had some small plans - like, for example, to go see Rio 2 and to play games with some of our friends. Yet, at the mid point of the week work almost got in the way. We had some hard and long conversations and made some hard decisions - I ended up working some of the time but we decided to leave work alone over the final weekend and just enjoy the last couple of days of vacation. We feel God honoured that decision and gave us rest to wrap up the break.

For those of you who have never attempted to watch a movie in a foreign language (without subtitles) let me tell you it is both a fulfilling yet maddening experience. At the end of the movie my Spanish enabled me to understand the "jist" of the movie while leaving most of the finer dialog open for, shall we say, interpretation. I'll be honest - even though it was a kids movie some of the vocabulary used was still difficult to figure out and some of the characters talk so fast... But we enjoyed it.

This year Joy lead worship for the Sunrise Easter service while I provided sound tech. Our girls are not "morning" people, as is evident by this picture near the start of the service.

2014 Sunrise Service at C.A.G.

Another cool part of Semana Santa (Holy Week) are the amazing decorative carpets they make from coloured saw dust. Here is a picture of one from inside the new SanKris mall.

Semana Santa Carpet at SanKris Mall

We did get to enjoy a games with Claudia, Pedro, Peter and Gabby and Mark, Kim, Eric and Kalia - which were fun and relaxing.

This week C.A.G. is doing their spring "Spiritual Emphasis Week" with the secondary students (grades 6+.) It kicked off yesterday and seemed to go very well. We are all looking forward to what God will do for these students this week.

Well, speaking of the children I must go wake them for school. We continue to be thankful for everyone who supports us - both in prayer and with their finances. Both enable us to be here working for the Lord.

Blessings to all,

-knme for the whole family

Ps - whilst downloading pictures from my Guatemalan phone I found this treasure from March 2013, right before I became stuck in the USA - I took Abigail out for a birthday meal, just the two of us, at San Martin. The staff treated her to a "birthday surprise." Hopefully she'll forgive me some day ;9)

Happy birthday Abigail (2013-9th)

Semana Santa Right Around the Corner

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is right around the corner. It is the week leading up to Easter and is a big deal here in Guatemala. I'll be honest, I'm excited for it because it is a week in which, in theory, I can sleep in. Selfish? Yep - probably. Realistic? Hopefully.

The past couple of weeks have been a blur. Joy's father left on the 25th of March. That was rough for us. We really enjoyed having him around. Right around that same time C.A.G. started their spring testing window for Measures of Annual Progress (MAP.) This was big for me as I handle the majority of the proctoring. That should wrap up tomorrow morning.

Joy's new elementary choir program has been quite the hit. They sang in elementary chapel last week - purely awesome! Have a listen:

We have decided not to return the kids to gymnastics for the rest of this school year. We may reconsider it over the summer but for now the choir, piano and ballet is keeping them active and busy enough.

On a personally exciting note: C.A.G. has approved the purchase of some street hockey equipment! Now, this may not seem overly exciting to some, however to me - a "Canuck", this is is very exciting.

Also, C.A.G. is seriously evaluating the addition of some "Computer Science" courses to its elective curriculum. It is too early to know exactly what this will shape up to look like but it is also exciting.

We have completed Abigail's registration for summer Camp Guamiski. She attended this two years ago and had a wonderful time. She is super excited to be returning this summer.

Well - that is all for now. We continue to thank God for all of you who have continued to support us: both financially and in prayer. Our being here and our work would not be possible if it were not for all of you.

Blessings,

-knm/jr/ac/eb/sje

Three Weeks Gone...

I'm not quite sure where the past three weeks went but I'll tell you they disappeared in record time.

We have so very much enjoyed having Joy's father, Edward, here with us for the past three weeks. We really haven't done much... Time just seems to have disappeared.

Our first weekend we went to the Auto Safari Chapin. We really enjoyed this. We stopped for ice cream at the Sarita. We had two trips to the dentist (no emergencies but regular cleanings.) We capitalized on our "snow day" and went up to Panajachel and stayed at Las Buenas Nuevas. This was very relaxing (sleeping in) and fun. We took the boat over to Santiago Atitlán - got thoroughly scorched.

Then there was Abigail's birthday. That night we had dinner at the Kim's, the home of the girls' piano teacher. It was truly amazing. We had great Korean food and then a small piano concert where Yo Han (their son), Ha Yeong (their eldest daughter), Abigail, Emma, Joy and Linda (their teacher) all played different pieces. We also sang hymns in English and Korean.

Saturday we had Abigail's real party... and wow - it was wild. Abigail, Emma and seven of Abigail's friends had a party at the mall then they came to our home where we had dinner and a movie. Whilst all this madness was happening Ed, Sara and I went to see, "The Adventures of Mr. Peabody and Sherman" - totally in Spanish. It was, actually, a pretty good movie.

We have had a game of Rummy Cube on the go for the past week. We're letting Ed win.   :9)

A good time. We'll miss him. Thanks to the Northeast for having scheduled a new snow storm for his return. That will be a quite a shock for his system.

Blessings,

-knme

Two Week Recap - Where does time go?

I sat down this morning to read the last post and realized it was two weeks ago. Oops. As I recall last week was just tiring.

The week before last we were blessed to have had the Missions Team from Portsmouth Christian Academy in town. They were working with some of our AMG friends, the Wilsons', not with us but we were privileged to get to visit with them numerous times throughout the week and that was truly wonderful. Our niece, Emily, was on that team and it was really great to see her. The kids too enjoyed some extra time with their cousin. We said goodbye to them on Saturday, March 1st. Even though their return trip was more complicated than originally planned we understand the trip was amazing and very positive.

Saying goodbye to Emily and the PCA team gave way to some last minute preparations for the arrival of Joy's father, Edward. He arrived late in the evening this past Wednesday night. This is Ed's third visit to Guatemala and first since Christmas 2010.

Ed will be doing some work on enhancing the inventory system and protocols at C.A.G. during the week days and relaxing and enjoying the grandkids in the evening/ weekends. This past weekend we took him to see the Auto Safari Chapin... if he shows off his pictures we encourage you to have a look - there's something about driving through a safari and taking seriously cool up-close pictures of the animals. This coming weekend we are planning on visiting the Lake at Panajachel.

For those who are following Meghan - she was at school for chapel and discipleship this past week - she is doing remarkably well considering. The doctors have said she is ahead of where they anticipated she would be, with regards to her recovery, and everyone is prayerful that the worst is behind her.

Not much else to say and with that I'll bid you all a happy Monday!

Blessings,

-knme

Weekly Update

Well.... As most of you have likely seen on Facebook Meghan is home safe and sound after her surgery. This is a huge answer to prayer. As she continues to recover she will be home schooled by her mom.

Also, her brother was able to fly down to visit with her, thanks to the company he works for - which covered the cost of the airline ticket.

Last weekend Abigail performed in the Union Church talent show. She did an amazing job! We were very proud of her.

Our family had an interesting weekend. We decided not to attend the Intermissions conference this year. We stayed local and had a family night Friday. Saturday the girls went to gymnastics then we went to pick up some stuff at the store before we headed off for a preplanned family adventure...

We were heading down the main boulevard and decided we really did not feel like running out of gas so we pulled into the Texaco. I put a full tank in, paid, then we got ready to leave... Alas the van had other ideas. It did not start. Now, if it were a computer I'd have better luck figuring it out. If it were a piano then maybe Joy... Better idea - call Cesar, our favorite mechanic. He drove up to the Texaco, opened the hood, and said, "Well there is your problem - you're missing your serpentine belt!" I mean, what!? How does this happen?

Well, long story short, after trying for three hours to find a new belt we gave up and accepted the Agrellas' loan of their suburban so we could go on our adventure. Oh, and a thank you to Mark for extracting Joy and the girls from the hot van at Texaco.

We did go on our adventure and Cesar found a belt, repaired the van and brought it to the house that night. So for us a good end to the day.

Our niece , Emily, arrived in country Sunday with the team from her school. It was awesome to get to surprise her at the airport and to hang with her and the team that evening. We were not able to visit with them today but hope to tomorrow night and Wednesday.

I am racking my brain ... I believe that covers the notable things in the past week. If not I'm sure we'll follow up soon.

Blessings and thanks to all,

--knme

Surgery Successful!

Megs surgery lasted a lot longer than they expected,  but the doctor feels it was so successful that he wants her to start walking tomorrow.   Today she is in a lot of pain.  They put 8 screws in her spine, and discovered she also broke her sternum.  Thanks so much for your prayers for her!

Waiting on Meghan

Meghan is still in surgery.  We will post more when we know it, but so far all we are hearing seems positive.

Most Recent Meghan Updates

Thank you all for continuing to pray.  Tonight she is in ICU at the new hospital, standard procedure, but her Mom (our friend Lisa) is devastated that for the first time since the fall she will have to leave Meghan.  Please join us in praying that she can get the rest she needs tonight.

These updates are taken from facebook, so if you have been following our page there you are fully up to date.  Otherwise please read them through, or skip to the last one to get the most recent information.

Wednesday:

What an amazing day. No, we don't know which hospital she will be going to in the States yet, but what an amazing day!

Meghan had many visitors today. One group were the girls from her 9th grade class. Each of them read a letter they wrote to her personally, each of them then knelt around her bed and prayed for a specific thing - physical, mental, doctors, hospital, etc. Finally, they all sang "How Great is Our God" to her. I cried through the entire thing, but was able to video it. I will share a link to it soon. It was truly inspirational and exactly what Meghan needed today. It is a must watch.

If there is anything God is teaching her through this ordeal is that she is beautiful and that people love and care about her. We have been so overwhelmed throughout this whole thing. Overwhelmed by the Body of Christ. Overwhelmed by God's grace. Overwhelmed by God's love shown through so many of you. I was talking with a fellow missionary tonight and he said that his entire mission knows about Meghan; that people on the other side of the world are emailing him to find out, "How is Meghan?" That's so cool!

We had two more doctors come this evening to assess Meghan and see what they thought. Both felt that her condition is serious, but can be corrected by standard surgery. This was great news as we thought that the surgery would be very invasive. Please pray that the US doctors agree and that she will have a less invasive surgery. Continue to pray for the hospital to open up. It's hard to actively wait on the Lord, but we know He has a perfect plan for Meghan.

Meghan is now back on Facebook. In the picture, you can see that she has her hand behind her head looking at the computer. What you can't see is the milkshake and fries on the other side of her. Her appetite is returning and she was much happier today. I know it was because of the visitors she had.

Thursday:

Well, today is a day I'd like to forget. Meghan spent most of the day sleeping. When she was awake she stared off not really knowing what was going on. She has so much pain that they are giving her Lyrica to sleep in addition to the pain medication she already has. That's what causes her spacey look. As a father, I'm really struggling. As a Christian, we're hanging in there and trusting.

We found out that the air flight we thought we had is not going to work out. This limits our options as to what we can do in the United States. We're looking at at least $20,000 just for the flight. Philadelphia has accepted her, but they are snowed in and cannot admit her. Miami is requesting a deposit BEFORE they will accept her. We hear the deposit would be at least $200,000. Of course, I have that just sitting around the house...

We've been speaking to, what many here call, the best neurosurgeon in Guatemala. We understand this would be a big cost as well, but perhaps not even as much as the medevac alone would cost to go to the States. We've been praying for God to close doors and it seems many of our options are closing as far as the States go.

With all of that said, we have been humbled by many of you asking how you can financially support us. Many have asked, "How much do you need?" Well, we simply just don't know yet. We do know that it is in the THOUSANDS. We've incurred many charges already just being here in the hospital in Guatemala. The best way to support us financially is to go to our website and donate to "The Bradleys - Meghan" in the “Additional Specifics” box. The website is http://foundationformissions.com/donate/

Thank you in advance for any money you can help us with.


Friday:
First, let me say Happy Valentines Day to my wonderful wife Lisa Workman Bradley. She has been so strong through this entire process. What a great mom!

The Corkscrew
Growing up we went to Myrtle Beach many times. I loved going to the amusement parks. One park had a roller coaster called the Corkscrew. I loved it. Beyond the big opening hill there were three successive loop-d-loops. Up and downs, twists and turns. What kid wouldn't love it. I'd ride it over and over again.

Well, at this point, I'm pretty ready to get off the Corkscrew and get back to steady ground. It seems that after praying, seeking, researching, and calling, a trip to the United States for surgery is not an option. We prayed for closed doors and we got them. Our surgeon friend in the US said this, "If you pray for closed doors, you have to accept the closed doors." I agree. We've had nothing but open doors here in Guatemala and see this as pulling into the station of the roller coaster we've been on concerning where to have the surgery done.

Today, we will be transporting Meghan to another hospital. It is even more state-of-the-art than where we are now, and this is a pretty cool hospital. We have talked with a doctor who is considered the best spinal and orthopedic doctor in Guatemala, and he speaks perfect English. (Thank God...) They will do another set of MRI's today to see exactly what is going on. PRAYER ALERT - we believe that God has and will continue to heal these bones. Let's shock the doctors with a totally different AND BETTER MRI reading! Pray for the MRI results today.

If she still needs surgery..., then he will perform the surgery here in Guatemala. We're still going to need at least $20,000, but we know that our God owns the cattle on a 1000 hills. (Psalm 50:10 "for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills."). The world is full of money and we know He will provide. If you would like to help please visit the following website and type "Meghan Bradley" in the comments.http://foundationformissions.com/donate/

I can't say enough about our daughter Emma Bradley. She loves her sister so much and has been such a great help to us during this time. It's truly amazing to see how people step up in times like this. I'm truly a blessed dad and husband.

God bless you all!

Another Friday Post:

Meghan Update:
Well, the day started out great. Lisa and Meghan both received Valentines which they loved... However, this has been a day of transition. We left one hospital and were moved to another. The new hospital is absolutely state-of-the-art. The doctor is amazing. After explaining everything to us he said, "The only thing I ask of you is that you pray that God would guide my hands." He was very humble. The staff are incredible. God has us right where He wants us.

The new doctor ordered more MRI's. He showed us that he found yet another fracture on T8, and he feels like it is very unstable. We are thanking God for closing doors to the United States. We could have done more damage during the flight. Meghan is now resting but in a lot of pain because of the move. Today I asked if she was scared, and tears began to stream down her face. I pray that I could be as brave as she has been this past week. She's tired, scared, and in so much pain.

The good news is that we have a great doctor who will be performing the surgery either tomorrow morning, Sunday morning, or Monday morning. He is awaiting some supplies that will fit Meghan. PLEASE PRAY that this would be ushered in quickly and the surgery could happen tomorrow. We were told the price of the surgery. We're looking at about $40,000. If God speaks to you to help fund this, please go tohttp://foundationformissions.com/donate/ and type "Meghan Bradley" in the comments box. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.

I pray that in all that we do and say we would honor God through this. At times, it's hard to understand the plan especially when things seem to go in the opposite direction of our prayers - like the MRI reading, but we have confidence that God knows what He's doing - like cancelling our flight to the States.

God bless you all!

Daily Meghan Update

Again, this is copied from Meghan's Dad's fb page:

"Brace for a Fall"
Today, because of her fall, the doctor fitted Meghan for a brace to make sure her back doesn't twist. This will make things much easier for her when she travels to the United States. As the doctor was fitting the brace on her, he asked for my help. Since I know so much Spanish it was easy...LOL. He explained the whole process and he explained that the brace needs to always be tight around her sides. He said that sometimes it will loosen a bit because of her moving, but just tighten it a bit to make sure the sides of the brace "hug" Meghan's sides. (Ok, I had an interpreter...) Anyway, I was driving home and knew that God was speaking to me through that brace.

I began to realize that Jesus has been holding her together this whole time making sure that one fragment of bone didn't go into her spinal cord. Jesus has "hugged" her sides tight to make sure she would be alright. But isn't that what He is? A Brace for a Fall? In Genesis 3, we read about the "Fall" of Man. The only answer to that "Fall" is Jesus becoming our brace through His death on the cross.

We did a lot of waiting today. Meghan's records have now been sent to two other Shriner's hospitals as the one in Tampa is not a Spinal Center. We could possibly be going to Philadelphia or Chicago. We really don't know, but we do know that God is leading all of this and He is in control. We also know that we definitely will be going to the States to have this surgery done. Even one of the Guatemalan doctors said to us that if it were his daughter, he'd get her to the States. Good enough for us... So not really much to update other than God continues to show His grace and love to us through so many of you. We thank the so many people around the world that are supporting us through this process. I pray that each of you will see the glory of God magnified through the good times, bad times, good news, bad news. We love you all!

Update on Meghan

Meghan Update:
So today was a rough day to say the least, but let me say this - God is still on His throne and in control. That's why these two beautiful girls keep smiling!

We had Meghan's records sent to multiple doctors today. Some from the States and some from Guatemala. All of them came back in agreement and pretty serious. We had been praying that Meghan would need only a brace, but it looks like there is an unstable fragment in the vertebrae that could possibly move forward and damage the spinal cord. Surgery isn't just necessary, but it is a must and needs to happen within the week. Our immediate prayer need is that this vertebrae does not move and that the surgery can be performed in time.

I cannot tell you how much my stomach turns just thinking about all that needs to happen, but God is walking through this with us. Please continue to pray for her pain, and for wisdom going forward as there is a possibility that Meghan could be a candidate for a reduced rate surgery at Shriners Childrens Hospital of Tampa. This would be huge as we don't have health insurance. We will hopefully find out tomorrow if they accept her.

God bless all of you. We have been comforted by your prayers.

Miracles Still Happen!

We witnessed one today.  We had not been paying attention to facebook this weekend, and no that is not the miracle.  So we missed the post about our friend's daughter falling through a skylight and down two and a half stories onto a tile floor.  So many thoughts go through your head when you hear that - the first of which was paralysis for poor Meghan.  God is so much greater than our little brains can comprehend though.  We witnessed a miracle today as we stood with Meghan's family, watched her move her legs and arms, talked with her, and prayed with her.  She is in a lot of pain, but my how bad it could have been.  God clearly has a plan for this sweet girl!  The post below is copied from our friend Shawn's (Meg's dad) facebook page.  We will keep you updated as we hear more - but for now please be praying that the nurses will do a better job at helping to manage her pain.

First, thank you for your prayers. Friday was a normal day. We went to our pastor's house to have lunch. After lunch was all sat around the table. Our pastor lives in a two-story house with the third story as a roof terrace. Our two girls and his two girls went up to the terrace to play. A ball they had went to the other side. Meghan sat on a wall with her rear end on the edge of a plastic skylight. The plastic gave way and she fell backward through the skylight. She did try to grab a fence, but it gave way as well. She said she thought she would fall into the next room about ten feet, but that didn't happen. The skylight led to the laundry room 30 feet down. When she didn't feel an impact right away, her brain shut off. She passed out. As we sat in the dining room, we heard an incredible crash. We all ran. By this time, Emma realized what had happened and saw Meghan falling. She ran downstairs yelling Meghan's name. I got out to the laundry room and found Meghan face down in a pool of blood. Apparently, we will never know for sure, she fell and first landed on the top of a cabinet on her back, then crashed down onto the washer and dryer hitting her head and creating a huge gash, then flipped over to land on the floor on her stomach. We called an ambulance and it arrived in about 5-10 minutes, they got her to the hospital where she had two sets of stitches, multiple x-rays and cat scans along with an ultra-sound of her internal organs.
Now, for the miracles that have come over and over again. We couldn't get Meghan to respond in any way after the fall. She kept humming and grunting as we would ask her what day it was and where she was. We thought for sure she had a brain injury. However, by the time the EMS got there, she was understanding their Spanish and answering them in Spanish. We knew at that point she was doing better. They got her to the hospital and every test they ran came back totally normal. The doctor couldn't believe it. They were concerned about two vertebrae that they felt may have been compressed. Throughout the day on Friday, she was conscious and pretending to laugh at her dad's jokes - a great sign that everything was normal. However, the pain has been unbearable and they are giving her medication to help. Saturday, they moved her from one hospital to another. The new hospital is state-of-the-art and very much like a modern hospital in the US. They did an MRI and she does have a compression fracture in V7. We are praying for wisdom as to what to do next. The doctor here wants to do surgery, but we know that in the states surgery would be a last resort. Here, many times, it's about making more money than taking time and letting things heal.
Although in a lot of pain still, Meghan had a great night of sleep last night. We need your prayers for wisdom. Wisdom for what to do next. We have two other doctors that have offered to look at all of her films to get other opinions. One is the best neurosurgeon in Guatemala and the other is a doctor from the states. We're confident that we will get some good answers.
We have felt the prayers of everyone. We have seen God at work throughout this entire process. In times like this it's easy to ask, "Why God?", but don't. God has great plans for Meghan. This is something that she will use for His glory. He had angels guide her fall, and he has had her in the palm of His hands throughout this entire ordeal. Please continue to pray for her pain as she continues to hurt, but each day we concentrate on the positive things that have happened and are so thankful that she is alive and better than anyone could expect. Thank you to North Shore Alliance Church, Ministerios Cristianos Kabod, and our family and friends for the prayers we've already received. We'll keep you informed.

Weekly Update

Greetings y'all,

Life continues to be unboring. Now, I know this is not a real word because my editor underlined it in red. I'm ignoring it because I feel it should be a word. Now that is off my chest let me explain.

God has put it upon Joy's heart to introduce a new program - it started as a children's choir for the city of San Cristóbal, however, after meeting with the C.A.G. administration team they decided to focus it, for now, within C.A.G. as a children's choir (grades three through six) with an established mission statement and specific rules and requirements. Joy was very pleased with the outcome and is very excited where this is heading. Auditions were held this past Monday. There were twelve students total. This was fantastic.

Last Thursday night we had a call from a friend of ours, Steven. His daughter is one of Emma's friends... the same friend and father who took her with their family to Xocomil right after we returned to Guatemala. His wife is in the States and he had a team coming in country on Saturday. He was wondering if we could help out with getting Catherine to and from school while he was out of town with the team. We knew that wasn't going to work (with our schedule) so we offered to take her until 10 February when her mom returns from the States. This has been good for the girls to have Catherine around. Her personality has helped to balance our kids nicely.

Sara is doing fantastic at potty training. I think she'll have this thing nailed by the time our last pack of pull ups runs out. She only uses pull ups at night time and only has "accidents" once-in-a-while... Praise the Lord!

We are still single-car right now which has made our transport schedule a bit hectic - but we're managing. Really only is a challenge when we have to leave school and go here for the girls then back to school for Joy then home for supper.

At our local church their regular sound tech was involved in a motor cycle accident last week. I (Ken) was asked at 7:50am on Sunday morning to setup and do sound for the first service... service started at 8:15am. It was a bit crazy but by the end of the service the Lord was praised and everything went ok. I rather enjoy working with the sound stuff. It really is fun.

Thanks to all our faithful prayer and financial supporters! Without your support none of this would be possible. Our financial support was up a bit from last month, which has helped a lot. Beyond that we do feel your prayer support too. Every morning at 5:15am, when I get out of bed I know someone is or has been praying...  ;9)

Well, that is all for now.

Stay warm everyone!

-knme

"Life is So Dull Here"

Said by no missionary to Guatemala, ever, I'm quite sure.

This past weekend was a perfect example of a relatively normal weekend here in Guatemala.

Saturday started off quite calmly.  We took the older girls to gymnastics and then went on to campus to get something I had left in my office.  Driving through campus they were ripping up the sidewalk and part of the parking lot because someone had clogged the sewage system by flushing their toilet paper.

We then ate lunch, which we cooked quite normally on our stove.  After lunch we headed downtown to the zoo.  It is really quite reasonably priced and one of very few places we can actually get out and walk around.  Most people bring their cameras to the zoo and take pictures of the animals.  Not so much the people behind us in line - they lined up to take pictures with our children.  You may think - weird, arrest them - we think, just another day at the zoo.  Abigail once commented she thought we should be on the other side of the fence with the animals with the way people stare at us when we are out.  I think it must partly be the red hair, because it's not like there aren't any gringos that live here.

After leaving the zoo we decided to take the van by the mechanic.  The air conditioning hasn't been working, and we can't drive with the windows down.  Now, I know some of you are thinking "air conditioning, do you know how cold it is here?"  To which I say "do you know how hot it can get here with windows so black you have to put your face right up to them to see through."  Okay, enough hypothetical arguing...not having air conditioning here is not just losing a luxury.  Proof of that - it got so hot in the car that I got sick.  Literally.  Praise God the trash can was between two cars at the garage and none of the workers could see me.  I just know that could have turned into a "watch the crazy white lady get sick" kind of moment.

That led to a day of sleep, and a night of sleep, so that we could get up at 6 for church.  (That seemed early to me until earlier this week I learned that my friend's church starts at 6 a.m.)  Just as we are getting ready to go out the door I remember that Emma had been scratching her head, and Ken had seen what looked like a bug on her head at the zoo.  Just in case, I thought, we better check her for lice - a horribly common occurrence in this country.  Sure enough - little buggers on her head.  So, scratch the original plan for church and an annual meeting.  Daddy stayed home with Emma, washed her hair, combed her hair, repeated process.  Then, when we all came home we tag teamed doing all three girls heads, and Ken checked mine.  Whenever we do that I am reminded of a story I heard about some third world Asian parents eating the lice of each other.  Praise God we are not that short of food.

After finally clearing all the lice from the child(ren) we went to school today.  Back to another normal day behind the walls, where pretty much everybody looks and talks like we do.  Normal, until the nurse declared that Emma had to be sent home - and we have to repeat the process again.

Yeah, never a dull moment around these parts :-).  (No Kenneth, that is not a pimple, it is a punctuation mark.  Joker.)  Oh, and we never did get the AC fixed...