At the time of writing this,
I have been back in Guatemala for about two weeks, and it has been
quite a wonderful two weeks for quite a few reasons. First of all is
due to a new partnership that I have. Back in 2004 (September 8 to
be exact), I started reading The
Purpose
Driven
Life
by
Rick
Warren,
a
40-day
journey
into
figuring
out
what
God
has
planned
for
your
life.
My
reading
partner
was
my
then
best
friend
and
later
fiance.
However,
sometime
around
day
17
we
had
a
fight
and
stopped
reading/discussing
with
each
other.
I
don't
know
if
he
ever
finished
the
book;
I
know
I
didn't.
But
then
in
late
July,
I
was
at
a
book
fair
in
Antigua,
and
I
saw
the
book
for
sale
in
Spanish.
I
have
a
friend,
Clemente,
who
often
talks
about
how
God
has
a
proposito
(plan
or
purpose)
for
each
of
us,
but
I
had
a
feeling
that
he
didn't
really
know
what
his
was.
While
I
was
in
the
States,
I
bought
Una
Vida
con
Proposito
(the
Spanish
translation
of
The
Purpose
Driven
Life)
for
Clemente.
September
4,
2011,
nearly
7
years
after
my
first
attempt,
Clemente
and
I
began
reading
the
book;
he,
in
Spanish,
and
me,
in
English.
Please
keep
us
in
your
prayers
as
we
continue
on
this
journey.
The
second
reason
that
this
time
has
been
wonderful
is
that
I
have
really
gotten
settled
into
my
new
home
in
San
Antonio
Aguas
Calientes.
The
people
here
have
been
very
welcoming
to
me.
One
neighbor
showed
me
where
I
should
buy
bread
and
later
let
me
know
that
the
people
charged
me
what
they
charge
her.
For
me,
that
is
extremely
heartening
as
it
means
I
am
not
viewed
as
an
outsider
in
the
community.
Although,
I
will
admit
that
I
overheard
my
neighbors
telling
all
their
friends
about
the
new
canchita
(light-haired
person)
living
in
the
neighborhood.
I
have
had
a
few
visitors,
and
I
hope
to
open
a
little
English
school
on
the
20th
of
September.
Please
keep
the
success
of
my
school
in
your
prayers
as
well.
English
provides
opportunities
for
better
employment
to
the
people
of
San
Antonio
which
means
better
nutrition
for
their
children
and,
ideally,
the
opportunity
to
have
a
sabbath
day.
Finally,
Guatemala
celebrated
190
years
of
independence
yesterday
(September
15,
2011).
On
the
14th,
my
students
had
a
program
where
we
celebrated
all
of
this.
We
had
a
civic
portion
of
the
program
where
we
sang
the
national
anthem
and
said
the
pledge
of
allegiance.
We
recognized
the
students
from
every
grade—preschool
to
9th
grade—who
had
worked
hard
to
be
good
students,
upstanding
citizens,
and
people
of
good
character.
Afterward,
we
had
a
cultural
portion
where
the
students
presented
songs
and
dances
of
Guatemala.
The
9th
graders
even
presented
a
dance
from
the
Garifuna
culture,
the
Caribbean
Africans
who
live
near
Livingston,
Guatemala.
Please keep Clemente and I in your prayers
as we continue on our 40-day journey. Please pray for the success of
my little English school in San Antonio as, with God's help, I try to
reach the people of San Antonio who need help the most. Please pray
for my regular students as the end of their school year
draws near. And finally, please pray for the recent elections in
Guatemala as the new mayors and congresspeople prepare to take office
and we enter into the second round of presidential elections.
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