Athentikos: Watch & Pray

My friends arrived in Guatemala to finish filming for Athentikos.

Here are some behind the scenes.

Watch the short videos and then pray for Scott.

Thanks,

K

Friends In Guatemala

Tomorrow, a team of 4 will be returning to Guatemala to finish filming footage for the Athentikos documentary.

Please keep them in your prayers... and, follow along on our Athentikos Blog. The guys will be updating from in country.

Here they are... Bobby, Bengy, J.Mac, and Scott.

On another Guatemala note: We have neighbors and friends that are there NOW on mission trip. The Lutes family is a sweet, sweet bunch with BIG hearts for Guat. You can read about their trip HERE.

I love that we have so many friends there now... It's a beautiful thing!

Guate Lovin,

K

Kickin' Butt

In the words of my great friend, Scottie Dancy...

"I've been busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest!"

And, that's no joke!

Here are some pics to catch you (and me) up to speed, since our return from Guat:

The 4th of July Bike Parade.

My kids look like Daisy and Bo Duke in this picture. Now all we need is the rebel flag flying from the monster truck.

It's the East Tennessee coming out.... it's in our blood. Ha! :)

Here are some sweet friends from the 'hood.

Then, we had Mac's Birthday "Extravaganza"... okay, so more like pizza and cake for all the little "Backyardagins".

Fun night with great friends!

Next, we took a little unexpected beach trip.

Good for my soul... and, great family time.

As soon as we returned from the beach, I went to a bridal shower for my sister.

Yes, BRIDAL!!!

As you can tell, I was a little excited! :)

Cali is the most BEAUTIFUL thing... truly, inside and out.

I am thrilled that she and Will are getting married... I cannot wait!

Will and Darrell are already "practicing" for the BIG DAY. They even dress alike.

Cali's sweet friend, Amy, came ALL the way from Australia to help celebrate!

Love. Her. "Heaps."

This past week, I shot Cali's bridal portraits... and, I'm SO EXCITED to post them!!! They turned out so well... and, why wouldn't they? She's gorgeous!!!

Since I can't let you see the portraits before the wedding, here's a sneak peak of a few engagement photos. Go HERE and show them some "comment love."

Hmmm... what else???

Oh yes, in my spare time Darrell and I have been working on Athentikos and planning mas ("more" in Espanol) vision trips to Guatemala!!!

Woo Hoo!!!

Kickin' It,

K

Favorite Moments, Week 5

Haha.

Yes, so this blog is about 2 weeks late... sorry.

Our last week in Guatemala, we definitely packed it all in!

We stayed SO busy... probably in order to keep ourselves from feeling the sadness of leaving.

It didn't work.

Here are some of my most memorable moments from Week 5.

• Hermano Pedro... over and over.
• Getting to hold Gloria, one more time.
• Hearing Henry and Elmer yell out, "Emma!" in their excitement to see her.
• New friendships with the HP nurses, Estella and Mary Louisa.
• Cafe Barista's latte
• Los Gozosos... saying "hasta luego" with a SpongeBob Pinata Party.
• Sacred time with the Ortiz family.
• The afternoon with our friend Cesar.
• Visiting Hogar de Ninos (Children's Home) and meeting Sean and Glendi.
• Meeting with Pastor Mike and catching a vision.
• Dreaming with Melissa and Scott over Pollo Campero. I. love. them!
• 2 (yes, 2!) birthday cakes for Mac... long story.
• 1 adorable little birthday boy.
• Victor's last visit to our casa.
• Walking the cobblestone streets and saying "goodbye" to Antigua.
• 1980's minivan with 8 people crammed in + ALL of our luggage + no air conditioning for a 2 hour road trip.
• Meeting the Reyher family in the Guatemala City hotel and talking adoption.

Ahhhh... I love this country. Love the kids. Love the people. Love the cities. Love the culture.

Love.Love.Love.

As much as I love the country of Guatemala, I love MORE of what its done to me and my own heart.

It's changed me. Forever.

The poverty, injustice, and hopelessness has given me a path to engage my own brokeness and need.

I desperately need a Rescuer.

The Rescuer.

So do the people of Guatemala.

-K

***If you are interested in traveling to Guatemala, Darrell and I will be leading some "Come and See" trips this Fall and next Spring, Summer 2010. These would be great for families, groups or individuals.

Shoot me an email or comment if you want more info.

Hermano Pedro

Another afternoon spent at Hermano Pedro.

I love this place more and more every day...

because of the precious souls that live there.

Meet some of my friends...

David.

Henry.

Sonya.

And, Elmer.

Mac was pushing Elmer so fast that the picture came out blurry.

Elmer and Henry were "racing" down a small incline at the hospital.

Darrell and the kids were "designated drivers".

Trying to spend as much time as possible with our sweet friends.

Can't believe we leave one week from today...

Makes me oh so sad.

The gift on the shore

Yesterday, we drove down to Puerto San Jose to visit the black beach on the Pacific Coast.

We had so much fun playing in the volcanic sand... and the surf with its HUGE waves that knocked us over again and again with great force.

While we were there, we had many "out of the ordinary" moments.  I mean c'mon, how many times do you have a candy and fish vendor walk up to you on the beach?

And, probably the MOST hilarious moment of the day was when a mariachi band walked up and began playing la musica.  One word.  RANDOM.  :)

However, one moment for me stands out above the rest.

I was sitting on the sand, watching the kids play, when a family walked up and stood next to me.  At first, they were admiring the beautiful blue water... just standing there.  Then, I heard the adults trying to encourage the kids to get in the water.  All of a sudden, one little girl strips down to her underwear and runs into the waves.  The force of those HUGE waves knocked her over immediately... and, as soon as she resurfaced she let out a laugh that was pure joy.  Her smile lit up the entire beach.  

Then, I turned back around and watched as the family tried to convince the older, preteen boy to go join his sister.  It was very evident that he was afraid... he obviously had no bathing suit like his younger sister.  With all of his fear, he was trying desperately to remain on the dry sand.  But, the women in the family would NOT hear him... I turned around and watched as they huddled around him and took off his clothes.  Immediately, I felt sorry for this kid... how humiliating and embarrassed he must feel... left in nothing but his underwear... I wanted to help cover him, hide his nakedness.  In what seemed like only a few seconds, they were dragging him down to the ocean where he would join his sister.  

His sister gave him a look like, "It's ok... yes, it's wild and dangerous... but, it's ok... you'll be safe."  Then, he slowly tested the water and the waves.  Timid at first, then his confidence grew a little more each time.  The first big wave that hit and pushed him into the sand, I thought... "Oh no, game over..."  Everyone got silent and waited on his head to resurface... Then, just like his sister, he came up from the bottom laughing with such JOY that it literally brought tears to my eyes.

It was obvious that these children had never seen the ocean before, much less felt its power and played in the wild waves.  

It was a Holy moment for me.   A gift.  

On the way home from dinner last night, D and I were walking and talking about our own lives "at the shore."  Asking the question... where is God calling us to strip down and run with abandon?

It's a good question.  A Holy one.  A gift.

Favorite Moments, Week 2

The Goodfellow familia left at 5:00am this morning.  We were so sad to see them leave... now our kids are grieving their departure and driving us crazy with statements like, "I'm booorrreedddd....".

As I was in the shower (at the crack of dawn)... I began reflecting on some of my most favorite moments over the past week.

• The excitement as the Goodfellow's arrived in Guate, it's been 2 years... and, WAY too long.
• The faces on the hotel staff as 8 kids bombarded the breakfast buffet.
• Our "big helpers" in Zone 3, mixing and pouring the concrete.
• Mac and Charlie, separated at birth?
• Listening to Fito (Guatemalan YL leader) as he told his story.
• Tyler's "ministry" to the local Mayan women.
  
• Being told "frio!" every time we took the above mentioned baby outside without socks, winter hat, and sweater.  Seriously, do these people know that it's 75 degrees outside???
• Charlie Greene's birthday fiesta!  And, the conversations that flowed during the party.
• Our kiddos playing together... futbol, running on the roof, legos, sword fights, and cartoons in Espanol.
• Emma and Riley at Los Gozosos.  Priceless.
• Hanging out with great friends every night... and, dreaming together.
• Cramming 10 kids and 6 adults into Brady's Ford Explorer.
• Guate!, Guate!, Guate!
• Smiles and laughter from the precious souls at Hermano Pedro.
• AND... 9 (yes, 9!) people in a Tuk Tuk.  The impossible... with no pictures to prove it!

My heart is SO FULL from this past week.

Thank you Goodfellow Family!

Thank you Greene's!

We love you all in such a special way...

K

The Joy-FULL Ones

Yesterday morning, we loaded up our families in the shuttle and drove to the city of Chimaltenango... to serve in an orphanage there called Los Gozosos (The Joyful Ones).  

It's a home for 11 special needs children... 

like Nancy...

...and Candy

...and Andres.

I'm fairly certain Darrell schemed some possible ways to kidnap Andres.  :)

They are all precious children... definitely, FULL of joy.  

What gave me the MOST joy however... was watching our girls (Emma and Riley) connect and engage with our new friends in such a special way.  

Priceless.

Emma had such a sweet bond with Nancy... one that I hope she never forgets.  I know that I won't.

Joyful,

K

Sunday in Antigua

What a beautiful, Sunday morning here in Antigua Guatemala!  I walked outside to clear views of all three volcanoes.  I could see the tree lines and the new rock that is being formed daily by the eruptions. 

 Yesterday, we met up with Scott, Melissa, and Madi Davis in the Central Park so that we could all walk together to church.  They attend an evangelical church about 3 blocks off the square.  I am here to tell you that it was another “coincidental” moment for us.  When we got to the corner of the block where the church is located, Melissa introduced us to her friend, Brandon.  Brandon is the director of a school right outside of town.  He is from Texas originally.  Kristin noticed that he was carrying a bible with a Young Life logo on it.  So naturally, our YL conversation created an instant connection.  We are excited to check out his school and ministry while we are here.  Oh, and Mac LOVED Brandon from the start!  J

Worship had already begun as we took our seats.  One of the songs we sang during worship was a song written by a friend of ours who lives in Nashville.  We sang it in English and Spanish and I noticed that there were a couple of people in the front row using sign language.  As a musician and writer, my hope is that my music would be heard by as many people that will listen and not only just listen, but be inspired, moved, changed, etc. I stood there and listened as the voices and hands of the congregation blended both harmony and language into a beautiful masterpiece.  A glimpse of heaven anyone?

Part of the sermon time was a “spotlight on ministry”.  The ministry to be spotlighted today… the deaf ministry.  Hmmm.  After the service, I introduced myself to Gustavo who heads up the deaf ministry for the church.  Let me pause right here and say, that I have struggled the most with the language barrier. Most of my Spanish-speaking conversations consist of:  “Hello, My name is Darrell.  What is your name?  How are you?  I am fine.”  And then it gets complicated unless the other person can speak English.  The amazing thing about my conversation with Gustavo is that he is full Guatemalan and was taught sign language by Spanish speakers. But since he uses Guatemalan Sign Language (which is very similar in structure and grammar to American Sign Language with subtle differences), we were able to communicate clearly with each other.  He and I both noted in our conversation that it was really cool how this works.  I am still amazed by it.

After church, we walked a couple of blocks down the street to a great bakery/restaurant.  Scott, Melissa, Madi, and Brandon joined us, as well as some new friends we made that morning at church.  The degree in which we were all able to engage with one another was remarkable.  It seemed like we were all old friends, just back from summer hiatus, catching up with each other.  There was even a huge fish tank full of piranha that the kids went nuts over.

I love how our “being” here allows us to walk into situations fully anticipating and watchful of how God is speaking to our little family.  

Papi needs some Spanish speaking skills!

OK, this brings out the LOL’s big time.  Yesterday afternoon we decided to take an early dinner at one of our favorite spots in Antigua called the Rainbow Café.  They have killer nachos.  Our plan was to eat and then walk down to the Market to browse and see who we could meet.  Upon paying for dinner, I wanted to find out what time the market closed so I asked the lady behind the register this:

“Hola!  A Que tiempo es la Mercada salida?” 

at which point she just looked at me.  Then her brow grimaced.  So I repeated with a little more determination. 

“Hola!  A Que tiempo es la Mercada salida?”  

She said she did not understand.  I found myself getting a little angry because…come on…I took Spanish in high school and I know what I am talking about here.  So I said, “Gracias.” And we left.  Kristin asked me what I was saying to her as we walked off.  I told her what I had spoken and then I tried to play the victim.  Like it was the lady’s fault she didn’t understand.  Kristin just started laughing as we dissected what exactly it was that I had said.  Turns out, I was asking her, something like: 

“Hello. At what weather is the Market exit?” 

LOL.

So, looking back, the lady was more than patient with me and had tons of grace because she didn’t shame me with laughter, but tried to accommodate a gringo with no clue.

A couple of cool encounters yesterday.  As we walked around, we ran into our friend Ashley who works for Hannah’s Hope in Guatemala City.  She was giving a tour to a group that she was working with.  We chatted for bit and made plans to see her again next week.   We said goodbye, walked around the block and saw Melissa's daughter (another friend we made on our trip last year).  The little girl was playing in front of La Merced (an old and beautiful church) with her babysitter.  We stopped and introduced ourselves to the babysitter and let the kids play with our little friend.  What a treat those two “coincidance” meetings were.  

Later that night, Emma did some rooftop reporting on a beautiful sunset.  See the video below.