South of the Border with Joe and Julie

77 Surgeries Completed!

2010-03-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

The team left to for the States early Saturday morning after a long, busy, but absolutely incredible week! All surgeries were free of charge and by the end, 77 surgeries had been completed. New outer ears were molded and made from rib cartlige, tumors removed, noses reconstructed to make breathing easier, tonsils were removed, non functioning inner ear bones were replaced with a prosethis, damaged eardrums were replaced with new reconstructed functioning eardrums, etc. Overall, hearing, breathing, and living were miracously made better by the incredible team we had this week at Mission of Hope. The team worked long hours but never once did we hear them complain! We were so blessed to get to know them and share in this ministry. I know God used this week to expand His Kingdom and receive glory! Praise Jesus!

This is some of the kitchen staff for the week. They provided 3 meals/day for the inpatients. Some of the staff were actually acountants, nurses, doctors, etc normally for Mission of Hope but they just wanted to help in anyway possible to serve the patients this week.

This is not the same girl as the picture below in the OR but this little girl had the same procedure done. You can barely make out her new left ear. She was pretty happy about the results!

This is a newly contructed outer ear. The patient was not born with an outer ear so it's a 2-3 step process to contruct a functioning ear. Last year, they took rib cartilige from the patient and made an ear and pasted it to her head right under the skin to enable blood circulation to begin. This year, they put another layer of skin on the ear and lifted the outer part out from under the skin. Next year, they will construct the hole and fix any inner ear problems so the new ear can totally function as a normal ear-pretty incredible huh?

This is our friend Phil, and ENT resident at UVa, that I had no clue would be down here. We had a great time with him this week and it was so fun to have a surprise Cville feel to the week!

Mission of Hope

2010-03-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

All this week we are helping out a surgery team down from the States (mainly Virginia) at Mission of Hope, a small hospital we have been working with since being in Santa Cruz. There are nurses, surgeons, translators, residents, as well as completely non-medical people there who just want to help and they make lunch, pray, clean toilets, color with kids, etc. It's really cool to see everyone work together for one common purpose. These surgeries are completely free and they just found out on Saturday they were being operated on...so fresh and exciting for the patients. Here in Santa Cruz, there are obviously Bolivians but also a large population of Mennonites who speak low German (the husbands usually speak Spanish but not the rest of the family). It made it interesting as far as communicating because about 2 people at the clinic speak both English and low German-they were pretty critical players!

Today, we observed a ear canal being made from the patient's own ear fascia. He was born basically without an eardrum in one ear because of exposure to the Rubella vaccine and thus had no hearing capability in this ear since birth. Then, some years ago, he fell out of a truck on the other side of his head and lost hearing in that ear. After surgery, he would wake up and hear again! So cool! Yesterday, we saw a Mennonite lady get a prosthesis for one of the 3 ear bones within the inner ear. She also had not been able to hear in that ear for 20 years.

One of the ENT's told me while we were in the OR, the inner ear is so beautiful, such an example of how creative and expressive God was in creation. I thought, how "beautiful" can the inner ear be??? But then I looked in the microscope and she was so right-amazing-bright red with shiny white bones-just beautiful! No matter the race and ethnicity, Bolivian, American, Mennonite, African, everyone's inner ear is the designed that beautifully and intricately!

More to come on this week with pictures!
The Kidds

Milenka

2010-03-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hey guys

We hope everyone is well and enjoying a bit of spring time temperatures. We arrived back in Santa Cruz Tuesday morning after traveling for 24 hours but finally think we are up to date on sleep now. We will blog on Nica and the Spring Break trip soon...but it was AWESOME!!!

We wanted to tell you the story of little Milenka. You might remember us blogging about getting away one weekend during Carnaval (Bolivia's Mardi Gras) and going to gorgeous Samiapata-maybe one of the prettiest places we have been on our entire trip! It was amazing with mountains surrounding us and great food (actually vegetarian options). A playground for us especially since we are living in Santa Cruz, the biggest city we have ever lived in. So we simply thought it was going to be a weekend to get away and bike, hike, read, and eat-God had other plans.

First of all, since it was such a big holiday and many people want to get away, most places were booked for months. Joe called the Tuesday before we left on Friday and there happened to be a room in a place 5 minutes from town (which was awesome to not hear the bands playing all night) and next to the best restaurant in town. We were a little nervous that when we got there our reserved room would not be reality but it was there waiting for us. The room was nothing to brag about but was clean (which is ALOT for Latin American hotels). We were enjoying ourselves and doing our thing when our 2nd day there we met the daughter-in-law of the owner of the hotel. She is American and comes for months at a time to do humanitarian work to little villages around Samiapata. What's crazy about this is her name is Julie and she is a pharmacist in the States! Small world! We got to talking and there is a little girl named Milenka from Samiapata who the whole town had come together to try to raise support for her to have heart surgery. Milenka, now 7 years old, was born with a hole in her heart. The doctors thought it might potentially grow together but after many tests and years of hope it is still there. We had noticed signs throughout town of a picture of Milenka but never stopped to read it. Her dad is a taxi driver and the mom stays home with her other 3 siblings. One doctor in Santa Cruz had quoted the surgery to be $9000, which in no way could her family afford this kind of money. Julie asked if we had any contacts in Santa Cruz for Milenka and we had just started working at Mission of Hope the week before we came. Crazy enough, Mission of Hope was started and by a lady in Charlottesville and is funded through donations in the US but staffed by Bolivians-really a cool place! Mission of Hope is a free hospital to the poor and the have the oppurtunity to hear the gospel while being healed physically.

We went back to Santa Cruz and talked to Mission of Hope as well as the lady in Charlottesville who said they could get teh surgery done for $7000 but we would have to raise the money ourselves-there were 2 other kids who needed this surgery as well that Mission of Hope was raising funds for at the time so they did not have extra money for Milenka. We were super bummed and emailed Julie and told her the news. She had been supportted many times from her church to do her projects and didn't think she could ask them again to help finicially as we felt the same with our friends and family. The lady from Cville told us..."Don't put God in box-this is possible to raise the funds!" Joe and I actually fasted the day after and prayed for our future and decisions entailing that but also for Milenka. That night, I checked my email and one of Julie's friends, who we actually met in Samiapata that weekend, was donating the entire amount for the surgery. INCREDIBLE! He was still going to write letters for support to reimburse himself but he wanted to follow through with this oppurtunity through Mission of Hope at the discounted price.

We now are about to call Milenka's dad and tell him the good news regarding the funding. We are not sure if he even knows the money is all there and the surgery can be performed. It's really exciting!

I would ask that you pray for Milenka and her family (her dad's name is Freddy) during this time of planning and putting details together as well as a healthy surgery and recovery. The family will have to travel to Cochabamba which is about a 8 hour trip for them for the surgery. It's a Belgium hospital and seems to be top notched. They have to travel there for the initail exams and consults and then probably will travel back for the surgery so just a lot of time on the road and nerves and hopes to tend to. I also ask that you pray for the continuted about of money to reimburse Julie's friend-he really took a step of faith and knew God would provide. He taught Joe and I so much through this action.

So, next time you go on "vacation" to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, be aware what the Lord has in store for you! His plans are perfect!

Take care!
Julie and Joe

Vamos a Nicaragua

2010-03-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

This is Asher at his 3rd Bday party! He is the son of one the missionary couples here. Amy is American, David is Peruvian and Asher is from Ethiopia. He is so so so precious! In Latin America, the 1st Bday is HUGE and the parents have a big celebration for their child. This is the first year Asher has been with his family since being adopted so although he is 3 now, they threw him a big birthday party to celebrate Asher's life! It was wonderful!

Last weekend, we had an Ayoreo kid's camp at a missionary's house. These kids are WILD and usually do not mind anyone. They were waiting all day to swim and finally when given the oppurtunity, they stripped down (literally-a lot of the kids did not have bathing suits, but that did not stop them-they went naked) and dove in!

Tomorrow morning we head for Managua, Nicaragua (although we fly from Bolivia through Miami to get to Nicaragua...and there is a Starbucks in the Miami terminal!!!) to lead a group of college kids from UVa , JMU, VA Tech, and William and Mary. College kids are coming down during their Spring Break to serve orphans in 3 orphanages and 1 refugee camp. During the week, we take the orphans to waterparks, markets, have soccer tournaments, cookouts, etc to make them feel loved. For a lot of the college kids, this is their first time to experience poverty. It is a very powerful week for them in aspect. Joe has led these trips in the past and kids go back to the States changed. It is not a a "Christian" trip but we, as the leaders, have talks with the students at night about poverty, injustice, and loving these people and changing our worldview after seeing first hand how it is to live in poverty as orphans. We are praying that kids meet the Lord this week and that the orphans feel the love of Jesus. This is definetely a trip to love on kiddos in orphanages but it's also about changing college kids lives forever and sharing Christ with them. I guess we use a "backdoor effect" to share Jesus with them. Please pray for us as we travel and lead these kids next week. Pray that hearts will be sensitive and ready to accept the Truth.

After we lead the trip, we are heading an hour away back to Granada, Nicaragua to visit everyone from our trip last year. We are so pumped to see everyone and see what is new in their lives. Yenner, one of Joe's English students, had a baby over Christmas so we are pumped to meet her! We hope to visit Juan and Rosita, our friends from the hosptial, sweet little Natalie (our tortilla vendor), and the missionaries who are still there. when we return to Bolivia we only have 2 weeks left which is crazy! We are still planning on planting a garden for an Ayore village right in the city when we return as well as work with a group of surgeons from Charlottesville, VA at Mission of Hope. We are really pupmped about going and coming back!
Thanks for your prayers and support!
Julie and Joe

More pics from FUA

2010-03-01T03:58:00.000-08:00

Some of the younger residents of FUA. For such a small village there are a ton of kids. they have a one room k-5 school in the village that the government of the nearest town has helped with, but after 5th grade, kids must travel an hour to the nearest town if they want to continue their education.

Working on the roof of the chruch/community center. We had all sorts of troubles during out two big workdays (power tools in the middle of the jungle?) but got a lot done on the building. It was a sweaty, rewarding experience.

A typical house in FUA, which might house multiple families. There are 8-10 of these houses in the village

Pictures from FUA

2010-02-28T11:47:00.000-08:00

Here is an Ayore women sewing a traditional bag inside her house.

This is Toni in the middle aroudn the Ayore community during the medical clinic. I actually got to give a man a shot (in his bottom!). This was the first time in oh 5 years I have given a shot but it was awesome!

There is a specific type of beetle that eats the community's peppers plants before they can bloom and become peppers. This is a great source of food as well as money because they can take these pepppers to the market to sell but the beetles are eating them. Jason, on of the guys on our team, is a nature expert and knows EVERYTHING about plants, bugs, etc. He tried to research a pesticide for this problem but it would just destroy the whole plant so he came up with cutting a 1 liter coke bottle in half at the top and catching the beetle. We were trying to get the kids involoved in this activity (usually the kids and parents just sit and watch when we are doing work in their villages). It took some time but the kiddos where actually really excited about this and wanted to do it after lunch even. Hopefully they will continue to catch the beetles so the plant come produce the peppers.

Here we are after the long journey to San Jose-pretty orange with dirt caked in our hair! A shower felt of so nice!

FUA

2010-02-26T15:26:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone

This weekend we had the awesome oppurtunity to go to FUA (Familia Unidad Ayoreo) as well as Santiago. We traveled with a group of 13 people total through some of the worst roads I have ever riden down. On the way there, the couple we were riding with did not have A/C so we had to roll our windows down to stay half way cool. The road is all red clay and dirt and we had 2 cars in front of us so the dust was flying everywhere. By the time we made it to San Jose, where FUA is located, Joe and I were both orange. It was caked on our faces, in our hair, on our clothes-it was pretty funny. I will put a picture up later.

While there, the guys worked so hard and almost finished a church in the FUA community. It was super hot and many electric tools broke so they had to work with hand saws to cut wood and pray over generators. This specific Ayoreo group seperated themselves from another village because they are Christians and wanted to have more support and freedom to worship. It still is made of mud houses, jungle surroundings, and a ridiculous amount of bugs but it does have a little different feel to it than other Ayoreo villages.

We also conducted a medical clinic for this village as well as another one closer into town during the weekend. Toni, one the of missionaries who is a MD, is absolutley incredible. She has such an amazing story and she truly is one of my heros, especially after this weekend seeing her interact with these people. She is American but grew up in Brazil with her family who were and are still missionaries. She went to the States for college and really wanted to train to be a doctor but wanted to serve Latin America after. She decided to study medicine in Boliva where she met her husband, who is Bolivian, and got married soon after. She knows the language, culture, and just has a heart for indigenious people.

We also traveled to Santiago to try and establish relationships with people there and see what the community needs as far as buliding projects and simply getting to know the Ayoreo villages there. There is a lot of history in this little bity town. About 50ish years ago, 5 missionaries were killed when they hiked into the jungle to first make contact with the Ayoreo Indians. These men really set the groundwork for many people after by making the first contact with these people. There is a memorial for these men on top on a cliff in Santiago with so much meaning. The book, "God planted 5 seeds," is about this situtaion if anyone is interested.

It was a great weekend overall besides the horrible road out and back. On the way home, the road was blocked because of protesters wanting more recogintion for their little town. Someone from about 10 hours away had to come and remove the blockade (which was a ton of sticks, logs, dirt mounds,etc)...Latin America! We had great fellowship with all the team members and great weather. We also got to hang out with a couple named Cesar and Mirta who are Bolivian and live in one of the Ayoreo villages closer to Santa Cruz. They are AMAZING!!! They are native, grew up in indegious culture, and again have a heart for Ayoreo people. Their support is about $10 US right now and they really don't know what they are going to do. I ask that you pray for them financially. They are such a HUGE part of this ministry and everywhre they go, they are showing God's love.

I will attach a few pictures of the weekend later.
Take care!
Julie and Joe

Santa Cruz! Volume 1

2010-02-18T20:47:00.000-08:00

Howdy Everybody! Sorry it’s been a while. We’ve been here in Santa Cruz for a few weeks now and our time here is really beginning to take shape, in fact it seems like it will fly by.

Here's a few things will be getting involved in.

Much of what we'll be doing will be with the Ayore community. The Ayore are an indigenous group from various parts of lowland Bolvia and Paraguay. Many Ayore have moved into the city in recent years and formed urban squatters camps. Sadly, these camps have turned into more permanent residences made of mud, sticks, and tin. The SAM (south america missions) team's goal is to encourage and minister to the Ayore living to the city, but also to help them maintain their indigenous culture so they can have pride in themsleves, pick their heads up, and hopefully move out of their situation in the city. Julie and I will be working on a community garden in one of these neighborhoods as well as working with a children's ministry on Mondays. I'll also be taking a seminary class, along with Bubba Massey, with 4 Ayore men. This is a huge step for the Ayore and Bubba and I will be meeting with these men weekly to discuss class material and work on study skills.

We'll also be working various weekends with the SAM Ayore team out in villages as far as four hours from the city. There we'll be working on construction of houses and a church, travelling medical teams where Julie is the expert pharmacist, and also working with a farm that SAM has cultivated near a village where Ayore are learning agricultural and business skills.

Every Thursday Julie and I will be working at a clinic called Mision de Esperanza (Mission of Hope). The clinic was actually started years ago by a fellow Charlottesvillian. They serve the poor in the city with primary health care and aid for major surgeries. Twice a year a large team of doctors comes down and perfroms as many surgeries as possible inside of a week. A team will actually be coming in a few weeks, so we are looking forward to serving alongside them. The clinical services are completely free of charge and the place is hopping with patients throughout the week.

Thursday nights we have an English class located at the Massey's house and led by a SAM missionary. The class is open to anyone and the lessons are based on passages in a simple english Bible (the new life translation i believe?) We think the class format is aweosme and we look forward to doing something similar when we get home.

We are living with a family in a very nice neighborhood inside the city. It's a nice house and we have a small comfortable room. The family attends a professional class small group led by some SAM friends of ours. Its actually been a little weird for us interacting with the family as this is pretty much our first time engaging with the Latin American upper class. Please pray for this time with the family and for the relationships that will develop.

Well, I suppose thats a decent intro to some things we'll be jumping into. We'll try to shed some more light and fun details onto the subjects as they progress. Take care!

Joe and Julie

Pics from around Cocha

2010-01-31T12:18:00.001-08:00

Our awesoeme teachers had a little lunch for us on our last day of class!

John, Jenny, Drew, Ann, Katie, Danelle, and us at Las Islas. An area in the middle of town with lots of food stalls and cheap street grills. It was actually really good! We had burritos, burgers, fried yucca, and cow heart.

Joe chowin' down on some anticuchos (cow heart)!!

Julie and I on a hill overlooking the city of Cochabamba. We were pretty blown away by how gorgeous this city is!

In the middle of the city, there is a 34-ft statue of Christ overlooking the city from atop a big hill. You can see it from pretty much anywhere in the city.

Happy Birthday Julie!!! We had a great day on Julie's bday. We woke up and had eggs for breakfast (a nice break from bread), went to a class, than had an awesome cookout with our friends John, Jenny, and all their roommates! Later we went out to celebrate, and our Bolivian madre even cooked Julie's favorite bolivian foods.

Irresistible Revolution

2010-01-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

So maybe I am a few years behind the Christian literature (I think it was published in 2001) but gosh…I just finished reading Irrestistible Revolution and I simply can’t stop thinking about it and decided to share. It was hard and made me stop and think a lot about how I am living and where and how we will live once our Latin American journey is over. Shane Claiborne talks about our necessity, as Christians, for community and relates this to the old church. They lived together, amongst the poor, in one community. In the early church, people would fast until there was enough food for everyone to eat together. To save food or stuff yourself while other are hungry is like a silent murder. “A biological father builds a mansion while his kids go hungry-he would be institutionalized or jailed. How much more preposterous should this be in our family or rebirth in which we’ve been given new eyes to see others as brothers and sisters,” says Claiborne (refer to 2 Corinthians 5:16-21). Jesus, of course, was the prime example of living within the poor-Jesus was poor! He didn’t have a house or a place to lay his head every night. He didn’t have a 9-5 job with good benefits…so why do we worry so much about this? We were never promised to live comfortably or safely when living for the Lord in terms of materials-but living our lives for the Kingdom is worth it!

Why in the “God blessed America” ideal are we taught to save our money and be wise in which stock option we choose? Who knows what tomorrow might bring right-this is something I am struggling with big time as far as what to invest prayerfully verses giving everything away and completely trusting the Lord for my needs). Jesus clearly states in Matthew 6, “Therefore I tell you¸do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Why then am I so compelled to save? For my own comfort, indulgence, etc-to buy another pair of earrings because I am bored with the last ones I have? To be able to go out to that nice restaurant with my friends and have fellowship this weekend? Go on that nice vacation (we work hard right so we inheritanly deserve it)? To retire early and/or comfortably?

America in its prosperity and wealth is so lonely! We don’t know our neighbors, are too busy to serve in our communities, but think we have the “American dream.” I urge you to be CRAZY…have a neighborhood block party, start a community garden, serve meal at the homeless shelter, and if you have kids do it with them too! And please know, I am preaching to myself too when I say these things!

He also made me stop and think about war which I won’t go much into but…he traveled to Iraq in the midst of America bombing the country as a peace-making missionary. He went to hospitals and held babies with pieces of metal throughout their bodies from the bombs, went to birthday parties for Iraqi children while bombs were going off miles away, and went to Bible studies and church services to pray over the war. The parents of these children asked him, “What did we do to your country?” and stated, “If this is democracy we do not want it!” We are training people to fight and kill other people outside of our borders who cry, run, and smile the exact same way we do and then arrest murders while inside our border when they kill one of our citizens. Are we saying our lives as Americans are more important than our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world?

Anyways, I urge you to pick this book up. It’s a pretty easy read but definetly thought provoking and a search for the authentic church. Joe and I are struggling on how to incorportate this into our lives and community and what this will look like on a day-to-day basis. We’ve had the blessing to live among the poor but now have a responsibility from this knowledge. No actions would be a sin as well as denying what God has revealed to us here. This book has helped in identifying examples of how to this out and how to live in community, simply, and lovingly.

Even if you think some of Shane Claiborne's ideas are a little "out there" but WELL WORTH your thoughts and time.

Mother Teressa-“We can do not great things, only small things with great love.”

Miss you guys!
Julie (and Joe)

Lago Titicaca

2010-01-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

Pics from La Paz

2010-01-22T11:18:00.000-08:00

Hello friends andf family!

2010-01-22T11:13:00.000-08:00

We are still here in Cochabamba and LOVING our classes! Well most of them…this is the first time that we both have switched teachers every hour which we were a bit nervous about just because teachers can be a bit chatty with surface things rather than teach which equals a lot of potential wasted time. We have each teacher for an hour at a time but the change has been great for most of the teachers. There are 2 teachers who ROCK!!! The best teachers ever seriously (besides Joe of course!). And then the others are not so great…good people just not the best teachers and challengers. But we have the good ones for half the day usually so its been wonderful! It’s also a Christian school so that has been incredible to talk about faith, ministry, etc with our teachers. We are going to a Communion Service tomorrow at one of our teacher’s house where Joe is leading a prayer and then Saturday, pastor Joe is preaching…in espanol! They love Joe and the fact that he sounds like he’s lived here all of his life!

For the past couple of days we have been hanging out with Johnny and Jennifer Kilmartin. “Johnny K” was Joe’s Young Life leader in high school and he and Jenny are down here for 2 years teaching at an American school. The kids actually graduate with an American and Bolivian diploma. They are an AWESOME couple!!! And…they are living with a couple, who also teaches at the school, from….CHATTANOOGA!!! Small world! It’s been fun to hang out with like-minded people, speak some good ole English, and have a bit of community with them. We have the next week or so planned with hiking, going to markets, having cookouts, and relating to each other on what the Lord has taught all of us on our journeys to Latin America.

Last weekend, we took off to La Paz for one night and Copacabana for 2. We were warned of the altitiude of La Paz (elevation >12,000ish ft) and one of our fellow students puked the whole weekend because he had altitude sickness but we didn’t have much effect from it. We did have some whacked out dreams which we later found out was in response to the alitutude…that made us feel better! We shopped in the artesians market a bit Saturday morning in La Paz and ate a good lunch and then hopped on a bus to Copa. The trip there was beautiful! The Andes mountains were in the background the entirety and small mud house villages in the foreground. The indigenious women wear a different outfit than other places we have been (I will post pics) with a funny looking hat that sits straight on top of their head. In Copa, we had some great trout (although fresh, we definitely saw the tiny hatcheries where they were farmed) and took a trip to a few of the nearby islands. We took a ton of pics with the new camera (thanks mom!!!) and think we finally figured it out-it’s been really fun to act like a real photographer! Joe and I both got kinda obessed with the alpaca souvenirs and ended up buying alpaca wool sweaters for $8! They are AWESOME!!!
Anyways, that is our story for now! Our hearts and prayers are with the people of Hiati and for those of you who have worked among and befriended them. Please let us know if we can do anything besides pray for God’s glory to be shown through this catasrophy.
We love you!
The Kidds

Cocha, Cocha, Cochabamba

2010-01-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

Well we arrived safe and sound last weekend after a long haul...4 countries, 2 days, and not a lot of food! We spent the night in the Lima airport which actually was quite nice. We slept till 8:30ish on the chairs in one of the gates. At one point, I heard the announcements for a plane boarding from the gate we were in and saw a bunch of people and then fell right back to sleep. I'm sure those people thought we were crazy Gringo's sleeping on the chairs in the airport. We arrived in Santa Cruz where the Masseys picked us up and took us to the mission base. They are AWESOME!!! They have 3 kids Ty, Sam, and Georgia who are great! We stayed at the base Friday night and Saturday they had organized a little welcome party for us with all the SAM (South America Missions) missionaries. The team is great and quite large! It was wonderful to meet them all but right after the party we packed our bags and took a 10 hour bus to Cochabamba for 3 weeks of language school. Joe's Young Life leader, Johnny Kilmartin and his wife Jennifer, live in Cochabamba teaching English in a school here and recommended a language school to us. We have been here in Cochabama for 5 days and it's great! The climate is PERFECT and we love our school! We are living with a lady named Carmen (Dona Carmen) who was a biochemist but now is retired. She is super nice and the house is pretty cozy. We quickly learned a hard custom of Bolivia and have had to adjust our schedules. Typically, Bolivians eat breakfast (with instant coffee) as we do, then eat a HUGE lunch around 2pm, and then only eat bread and drink tea for dinner. We have been a bit hungry at night but have found places to get light snacks before going home to eat bread and tea with our family! We visited a hosptial yesterday and both were astonished at how NICE and CLEAN it was! There were no stray dogs or cats anywhere...a little different than the hospital in Granada! We might be volunteering a few days a week there or another clinic while here in Cochabamba.

Johnny and Jennifer have been in the States for the Holidays so we have not seen them yet but they arrive here this weekend. We are pumped to hang out with them and see what their lives look like here in Cochabama. We are surrounded by gorgeous, gigantic mountains so hope to explore the many parks with the Kilmartins when they return. The city itself is a mile higher than Charlottesville and we have seen a few affects...we went running the first day here and after 5 minutes, Joe said he heard my heart beating is was working so hard! I was DYING!!! Day by day we have increased our minutes of running-we are up to 20 minutes!!! A big goal I know! We are headed to La Paz this weekend and a lot of people get altitude sickness pretty badly so we are hoping for no vomit! Anyways, we are alive and safe and will update you soon!
Love you and miss you all!
Julie and Joe

Off again!

2010-01-07T12:09:00.001-08:00

Well we are sitting at the airport in DC (we did get the right airport this time) waiting for our 24 hour journey over to Bolivia. We have had a wonderful time in Chattanooga, Birmingham, Broadway, and Charlottesville visiting friends and family. From night skiing in about 18 degrees one night, to watching Brandon and Nicole canoe down the river with 2 ft of snow on the ground, to Christmas parties, playing with neices and nephews, homemade food and Christmas treats, caroling with our traditionally pots and pans, to having a variety of clean clothes to choice from everyday, clean beds without bed bugs, it was awesome to be at home!It was honestly a bit hard coming from Nicaragua where the people did not know where their food was going to come from each day to hopping right into the middle of Christmas here in the States. At first I was repulsed but sad to say, I quickly turned back to the materialistic side of Christmas and was out shopping and buying gifts without thinking twice. I have to admit it scares me how quickly I forgot about what we saw down south, as far as materials, or lack there of, and jumped back into life in America at Christmas. All that to say, we are pumped to be able to go back down and serve and are really excited about being stationary for the entirity of the trip. Our home base will be Santa Cruz, Bolivia but the first 3 weeks we will travel to Cochabamba for language school where we'll live with a Bolivian family and volunteer in a clinic. The remainder of the time will be spent in Santa Cruz with the team from South America Missions. The Masseys are the family from Trinity that we are hooking up with. They have been so encouraging to Joe and I via email and we can't wait to get to know them and serve with them. Please pray for our long travels today and that we can easily transition back in life in Latin America...and for my Spanish skills! We love you and it was great to see you all!

Our Friend Juan

2009-12-20T13:19:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and blessings during this wonderful season to celebrate Jesus' birthday! As most of you know, Joe and I had the incredible opportunity to be in Central America for the past 4 months doing different types of mission/volunteer work. We spent the majority of our time in Granada, Nicaragua working with missionaries from our home church in Charlottesville. While there, we pioneered a hospital mission project. The hospital in Granada in a public, free hospital funded by the Japanese. Let's just say you get what you pay for here. There are usually a shortage of necessary medicine, doctors, etc but an excess of stray dogs and cats running in and out of patients rooms. Joe and I went 2 days a week to the hospital and visited, prayed, sang, etc with the patients who were waiting patiently for healing. They were a captive audience considering the boredom and waiting but through Jesus we developed some great relationships in the 2 months we were there. On of these patients, Juan, was there the first day we began at the hospital and was still there 2 months later when we left, just waiting for the correct antibiotics for his leg. His story is this...Since birth Juan was unable to walk. He had these huge bulbous bones spurs (for lack of a better term) that inhibited him from walking. He would try but only fell. So, thirteen years ago he had a surgery to remove the spurs. His left leg healed up fine, but his right never healed. He has been in and out of the hospital since then with this incredible festering infection. He learned to walk. He relies heavily on a cane. He just turned 28 last month.

Joe and I didn't know the severity of his infection until one of the last days we were in the hospital. A doctor came by to clean his wound (which is deep to the bone) and was talking about his antibiotic therapy. At that point I put on my pharmacist hat and realized the huge problem in what was going on. From day to day the hospital literally doesn't know what medications they will have in stock and thus give patients whatever they have...which equals increased resistance for infections and lack of healing. We had seen some miracles of healing before this to another patient that totally made me realize how much bigger God was than our American, researched, expensive medicine. When I heard how wrong (in American standards) Juan's care was, I thought to myself...well God is in control and is the ultimate healer no matter what medications he is or is not receiving. We went on and just prayed about the situation and later were discussing this with some friends of ours from California that have moved for 5 months to Granada and have totally served this community in so many ways. This family, because of a sickness Dione (the wife/mom) had while being in Granada know of a doctor that worked in the best hospital in Nicaragua which is about 45 minutes away. They had also raised some money to help give their neighbors Christmas presents and everyday needs such as beds, foods, etc but had some money leftover from all of they generous supporters. They offered to get in contact with the doctor they knew and see what he could do for Juan. Long story short, Troy (the husband/father) took Juan to the hospital on Friday and everyone was blown away by his leg. Here is what Troy said of the trip to the hospital on Friday
"Dr. Baurios, was absolutely fantastic. He was very caring and careful and thorough. Everyone who saw Juan’s wound was profoundly effected. I had to walk into another room because I was teary. Juan definitely has Osteomyelitis (an infection of the bone). They took an x-ray of the bone to measure the damage. They also took cultures of the five eruptions where the infection is coming through the skin (one honestly looks like an upside down volcano straight to the bone). They also took a blood draw to see if the infection has spread to his blood or anywhere else in his body. On Tuesday we will get all of the culture and blood results back. Today the x-rays showed that the bone has not been damaged by the infection which is fairly miraculous. Dr. Baurios is also going to show the films to an orthopedist to be thorough. So, hopefully Tuesday we will know the plan for treatment. It will most likely include being admitted to the hospital for at least two weeks of intensive antibiotic treatment. After the infection has cleared enough, they will surgically clean the infected area and remove old scar tissue, etc. "

Juan lives with his mom and dad and his little 9 year old daughter (the mom is not in the picture). He has the best attitude and knows there is a plan for him thru the Lord. He really wants to get back to work (which is physical work) to provide for his daughter and help his mom and dad out as well. For 13 years, Juan has not received appropriate care and has spent tremendous amounts of time in the hospital. We are hopeful that this time is different and he will be healed after proper treatment but most importantly, God's healing. You all have been so gracious to Joe and I to support us financially and prayerfully as we have been away but we are going to throw this out there now. It cost about $100/day for treatment at the hospital and Juan needs weeks-months of treatment. It's not cheap! Please join us in praying for Juan and if you feel led please make a donation in Juan's name to help him receive proper care. Our friends, Troy and Dione, have created a paypal account on their blog. Just click on the link below to go directly to the paypal link or if you have problems you can visit their blog at
www.thehickersons.com

Thank you so much for your time, heart, joy, etc. We are heading to Bolivia January 7th for another 3 months and would love for you to follow us at www.kiddsinlatinamerica.blogspot.com
Merry Christmas!!!
Julie and Joe Kidd

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=xsCUtw_SiCwoAfc2rEI6f86M3kymAP0HchDNtzcSi5NUfdJfrPPFp7WEbM4&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1ffc45dc241d84e953ae3a912d7415d1a97451b677930c8a71

Home Sweet Home!

2009-12-05T17:31:00.000-08:00

We arrived safely to DC last night where Joe's sweet parents were there to pick us up and take us to Broadway. We woke up today to snow covered woods which continued the entire day...such a treat and truly beautiful! It was great fun to build snowmen, sled, peg each other with snowballs with our family. The weather has been a bit shocking considering we lost around 40 degrees from our flight from Panama to DC yesterday...crazy! But we are excited to be home and spend time with our friends and family, have good home-cooked non beans and rice food, sleep in clean beds (Joe got attacked by bed bugs one of our last nights in Panama), take hot showers, have more than a 2 shirt option of what we will wear each day, and most importantly sing Christmas music. Thank you all for all of your support, prayers, thoughts, etc for us while we were in Central America and we will return to the blogging world in early January when we go back South for another adventure in South America. Happy Holidays and Happy Birthday Jesus!

Julie and Joe

Matagalpa

2009-11-29T06:34:00.000-08:00

At Selva Negra-a gorgeous coffee farmer built by Germans and therefore with a German twist of architecture. The family built a chapel on the premises so their daughter could be married there.
An amazing sunset overlooking the mountains in Matagalpa.

At the vida joven camp-they have a maze and this is what you find in the center. (our friends Frank and Bekah)

Other parts of the Vida Joven farm-this picture doesn't do it justice for its beauty. It's truly amazing!

One of the precious kids at La Chureca in Managua. His home, school, doctor, etc is all located inside the dump. But for some reason, the Managua dump felt more hopeful and peaceful than our dump in Granada.

Last Weekend in Nica

2009-11-28T13:33:00.000-08:00

Hola!! Last weekend, our last weekend in Nica, we tested our luck/faith and rented a car. We went with Frank a Bekah, a couple who is down here for at least the next year, discipling recovering drug addicts and keeping it Real in Granada. We left Friday and went to Managua to visit the dump up there, which is daunting and has at least 800 people that actually live inside the dump's gates. We encourage you all to visit websites about the programs serving the communities inside the dump (just google "La Chureca, managua"). We then headed north to the mountains to visit the Young Life camp in Nicaragua and some coffee farms.
Our time in the highlands was incredible. One of the highlights was the simple pleasure of actually being cold for a few hours. It was a part of the country that neither of us had experienced at all. Quite different from Granada- mountainous, windy, cool, and some buildings actually made of wood. The locals from the north even look different, taller and with lighter eyes due to German lineage (also reflected in the architecture).
Saturday's visit to the Young Life camp was really sweet. Frank and Bekah live with the Young Life staffers (Yener and his pregnant wife, Oneida) here in Granada and we have developed great friendships with them as well, so we had heard lots about the camp and were excited about the ministry of young life (vida joven) here in Nica. The camp is gorgeous and is set up much like YL camps in the states, with slight Nica twists thrown in. The camp also has its own vegetable gardens (it has a goal to be completely self sustained) and a huge coffee farm right there on the premises. the coffee is now being sold and they are launching a program to sell the amazing organic coffee in the states and at US Young Life camps. The purchase of 1 pound of coffee is actually enough to pay for a kid's week at YL camp here. I urge you all to check it out, and look at the info about Vida Joven and Young Life International. http://www.vidajovencoffee.com/ (our friends Frank and Troy actually made this site, as well as the site for Vida Joven Granada.

Pictures of the weekend and of events from our last week in Granada coming soon!

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Joe and Julie

Rosita

2009-11-24T20:33:00.001-08:00

Sweet Rosita was run over by a truck 20 years ago as you can see on her right leg. In order to repair her leg, they took a bone from her left leg along with many skin grafts all over her body and tried to repair her right leg. Although it has been 20 years, her leg is still infected and unfunctional. With this hospital admission, she fell and broke her hip. She is also anemic so they waited adn waited for there to be blood at the hospital so they could give it to her during and after surgery. She finally had surgery and was bedridden for weeks waiting for her bone in her hip to continue to grow stronger. We grew extremely fond of her and her sisters. She has the cutest smile (ask Joe to do an impression of her when we are home-it's perfect!) and she sang "At the cross at the cross, when I first saw the light, and the burdens of my heart rolled away..." in Spanish of course, to us every week. She cried many times because she was so tired of being stuck in bed and had 2-3 huge bed sores from just laying in bed. We worked with the Lions Club here and got her a new wheelchair and for days all she could do was look at it because she could not get out of bed or for that matter move. We loved her and always looked forward to seeing her on hospital days because we just knew she would be there forever. Then, one day, she wasn't there! We had been praying for God, Jehovah Rapha, to heal her because Joe and I both thought her situation was too bad for medicine to help and escpecially medicine at this hospital. And what did the Lord do? He healed her! By the power of God, she got out of bed, into her wheelchair, onto a bus, and off to her house! We learned such a lesson that day about God's power in healing and doing miracles.

Us with Rosa and one of her friends that visited her everyday!

Sooo... because Rosa left the hospital before she thought she would, we didn't get a chance to say goodbye. We always talked with her about after she got home we'd come over to her house one day and have dinner. From getting her the wheelchair we had to get a copy of her ID card, so we sort of remembered her address, which are not too exact in Nica. All we knew was that she lived in a tiny little town called San Blas and her house was small and in front a school. We asked our Nicaraguan friends where San Blas was, and most of them didnt even know. Turns out it is very tiny and about 6 miles off the highway between Granada and Masaya. We sat out one Sunday afternoon with a mission to find Rosita, and find her we did! We got a taxi driver to drop us off at this dirt road in the middle of nowhere that he told us led to San Blas. We had to wait around for a Tuk Tuk (mototaxi) to take us the rest of the way. We asked the tuk tuk driver if he happened to know Rosa Aleman and he said, "oh yea, Dona Rosita!, She lives in front of the school!" Turned out their inexact addresses worked out just fine. the drive back the dirt road was beautiful, pure farm land and dust. We pulled up in front of Rosa's house and there she was, sitting on her front porch in her wheelchair, beaming from ear to ear and cackling with laughter! It was such a blessing to be able to see her in her home. She was o happy there with her family who was visiting and to have the two Gringos there on her porch. We took lots of pictures and stayed around a few hours talking with her and her family. We sang some hymns with her and we even recorded her singing "En la Cruz, en la Cruz." We showed her the video and she thought it was the coolest thing ever, it was freakin' adorable.

Sweet Rosita at her home, in her element. Smiling with Julita, her favorite Gringa.

Amigos cont

2009-11-24T19:37:00.000-08:00

Juan-This guy is awesome and he NEVER wears a shirt! He has the best attitude ever and is always joking around with us. He's been here since we first started coming to the hospital and today was quite sad when we had to say goodbye. He had a compound fracture in his calf a few months ago and now has osteomyelitis-a very serious bone infection that needs to be treated correctly with IV antibiotics for months. This hospital simply does not have the antibiotics that he needs. To compensate, they change from week to week his antibiotics according to what they have available. The doctor today was trying to encourage him to have the leg amputated but he completely trusts in the Lord for complete healing. Today was the first time we saw a serious side of Juan. He actually started crying and we talked about God's perfect plan for him and how Juan wanted to go back to work and provide for his daughter but physically can't and how he doesn't want his leg amputated for this reason. God is doing some serious healing on him physically and more importantly spiritually.

Winston-he was shot in his upper leg and the bullet shattered his femur about 7 months ago. An ironic situation because Winston had graduated from Peniel, the rehab center our church works with and sponsors addicts to attend. Upon graduation, he experimented with drugs and got involved in the wrong crowd again and thus got shot. He was been in the hospital and had screws placed to repair his femur which got extremely infected while at home and now he is back at the hospital. He is serious about his spiritual life now and wants to change and live for God. He is always reading his Bible when we come to visit and Joe has had many deep conversations with him regarding different thoughts of theology.

An adorable little couple where the wife had a pretty nasty infection in her toe that was actually amputated. He serenaded the hospital room one day (which was precious) and always had a huge smile!

Margarita-she had a leg infection when we first met her and she was in the room with all guys. They moved her into another room and we were told she went home a few days later...which she did and THEN came back to the hospital because the infection was not healed. We ran into her in the hallway and exchanged addresses and numbers.

This fella is Pedro Enrique. He was one of the first guys we met and he was only there for a few weeks after we got here. He is a pretty adorable old man who knew probably 15 English words and also loooved to use them any chance he got. He always wanted to know about the US and was obsessed with us meeting his daughter and son-in-law. We gave him a copy of this picture and he was pretty giddy, he had a huge crush on Julie. He gave the picture to his girlfriend. He thought he was pretty handsome in it.

Amigos del hospital!

2009-11-24T16:04:00.000-08:00

This is Manuel. He lived in Miami for a few years, where the rest of his family still lives. He gets to talk with them sometimes and they come to visit every now and then, but he had a drunk driving accident and was deported. He is super friendly and loves to show off the few English words he speaks. He is the singer of the hospital and croons in the guys' room and out in the halls. He was really pumped to get to sing some English songs with us, he loves some Lionel Ritchie, Chicago, and Journey. He is diabetic and has a pretty bad infection in his foot. He has been at the hospital for about a month now, and will probably/hopefully leave soon.

Fast Times at the Japanese Hospital

2009-11-24T15:23:00.000-08:00

A large chunk of our time here in Granada is spent at the Japanese hospital. This is the large public hospital on the outskirts of town. It gets its name, not because it serves only specific asian tourists, but because it was built about 10 years ago with Japanese support.

We spend two mornings a week visiting with patients and helping nurses. We have taken vital signs, organized a mess of old x-rays, and set up a much needed system for incoming patients' paperwork. However we spend most of our time getting to know long term patients and their families. We talk with them (julie has had the spanish words 'infection', 'cleaning', 'antibiotic', and "getting better little by little" pounded into her head, pray with them, and even sing with them (we don't know too awful many well known spanish language songs, so "la bamba" was busted out quickly).

We spend our time in the surgery inpatient and infection ward. Patients are stuck in these rooms with 8 beds anywhere from 2 days to 3 months and counting. It's a pretty tough place to be for the patients and has absolutely shocked us from our standard view of hospitals in the USA. Everything is free for the patients, which is nice, however some days they do not have medicine, some days they do. The doctors (as in the entire hospital's legion of doctors) take vacation days very often. They will schedule a surgery for a date two weeks away, only to change it at the last minute for no reason, then change it again because there is not enough blood for the surgery. Many of the patients are there with a fairly simple infection, just waiting with no exact end date, just trying to keep up hope. The open-air rooms also hover at 80-90 degrees throughout the day and night. Despite the dismal description, there are many amazing people there and the relationships we have formed and the opportunities we've had have taught us invaluable lessons about our God,the Healer, spreading joy, and true patience.

Im afraid this blog would be entirely too long if I tried to go into details about all the folks we've met, and the experiences. Instead, we will post pictures and introduce you to a few of the pacientes.

Love yall!
Jose y Julia

Natalie

2009-11-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

Here is our sweet Natalie. Her mom just cut her hair and we hardly recognized her yesterday but she's still adorable and comes for a glass of water. We bought her a pair of flip flops and they fit perfect! She was wearing them proudly today! Thanks for all of your prayers!

The belltower

2009-11-14T13:48:00.001-08:00

Another cathedral in town
At the top of the cathedral overlooking the city

A wealthy neighborhood

Again at the top of the cathedral overlooking the convent

Pics from around Granada

2009-11-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

Church in Granada
Means of transportation for many people here

Other mean of transportation for the whole family

More pictures from the dump

2009-11-13T11:03:00.000-08:00

3 Brothers and sisters from a family of 8. These kids don't go to school and never have shoes on. These kids are extremely shy and will hardly look at us but have started coming around the last couple of weeks. The girl jumped on my back this week wanting to play and have let the other girls hold them and smile at them.
He's one of my favs! He doesn't really know how to wash his hands and just puts his hands together with the soap and water but doesn't rub them together. It makes me smile every week and we teach him how to rub his hands together to make them clean. He just looks up at us with his precious big brown eyes.

Our team singing and praying with the workers before serving the meal.

Ezekiel (Nica guy) who comes with us a lot on Tuesdays, Ruth, Annie, Jesylan (the AIM girls), Joe, Osiris (our musician), and 2 visitors from Virginia this week Joe and Ben King.

We had to pull them away this week to come and eat. They kept saying we need just 5 more minutes to work.

Tortilla, Tortilla, Tortilla!!!

2009-11-13T07:45:00.000-08:00

We hear these words literally about 10 times a day from ladies in the street walking around the city selling tortillas door-to-door. The sound is extremely nasally and high pitched and we often mimic them. Since moving into our new house (the 4th house!), there has been a new little voice outside our door selling tortillas. Her name is Natalie and she's around 7 years old. She comes by everyday to ask if we need more tortillas and usually every other day she will ask for a glass of water. She's ADORABLE! Yesterday she had her little sister with her and I asked them where their shoes were. Natalie looked at me like I was crazy and told me she didn't have any shoes. Joe and I were discussing her future and the fact that all she will ever know or do most likely is sell tortillas. No school, no education, no dreaming of being a nurse, or a lawyer, etc...simply sell tortillas! This also brought up the point of Joe and I not being passionate about our careers and the want to go back to school and change professions-which is very doable for most Americans. If we are not happy, we change it and we educate ourselves and we enable ourselves in the situation. We have so many resources at our fingertips for our disposal and we have the attitude that if we don't like doing a particular something, we can use our resources and change our future. We are blessed (and spoiled)! But what about Natalie? She is probably perfectly content selling tortillas without shoes day in and day out. She has no resources literally! But she ALWAYS has a smile on her face. Maybe as Americans, we have too many choices and "ways out" that will are always going to think "the grass is greener on the other side" and we need more education, money, power, etc. What makes Natalie seem so content to me? Her lack of materials and naive spirit? I am still pondering this question and the issue that we probably have TOO many options in our lives to make us discontent. Anyways, as I search the problem deeper please join me in praying for Natalie and her family and the thousands of kids here without shoes, food, and our definition of a "future" outside of selling tortillas. I am exactly sure what I would ask for you to pray specifically for because she's not sad nor angry or ashamed, just living in extreme poverty. Possibly, the best thing is to ask God to just pour out His love on Natalie and her family and to give them the understanding that things on Earth are not a measure of our standing in His sight. And please pray for us to realize her simplicity is such a beautiful thing.

Matthew 19:20-24
"I have kept all these," the young man told Him. "What do I still lack?" "If you want to be perfect," Jesus said to him, "go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." When the young man heard that command, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions. Then Jesus said to His disciples, "I assure you: It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven! Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

I will post a picture of Natalie soon so you can have a sweet memory of this little girl! Thanks so much for your prayers!
Julie and Joe

Other Bday pics with our friends

2009-11-08T10:05:00.000-08:00

Frying some tortillas for guests!!

The birthday party crowd - Everyone that lives at the base, an awesome family from CA thats here for a while, and the Nica Young Life staffers

Thats a 27 BAKED INTO the cake!

He blew BOTH candles out in one try!!!

Moto Pics

2009-11-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

Cruising thru town

Get it Bday boy!

Katarina Mirador-the overlook to the crater filled lake

Our friend, liquor store owner, and moto renter

Feliz Cumpleanos Jose!!!

2009-11-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday was Joe's Bday and we had made a pact last year to always take off from work on each other's Bday and do something fun and adventurous. This year has just a little different setup. Every Tuesday, we do a feeding program for the people working at the dump and decided we still wanted to attend for a couple different reasons rather than take the day off to celebrate Joe's Bday. First of all, you can't say you spent your Bday at the dump every year and secondly we really have a heart for these people and didn't want to miss a week of this ministry. So we spent the morning with the people at the dump singing with them, reading them Scripture, washing their hands, praying with them, and feeding them the typical gallo pinto (a rice and beans mixture), eggs, cheese, and refrescos to drink. We have started to know more and more of the people working there and their sweet little kids and this week there was just something special about the trip. We had a smaller group from El Puente (The Bridge-which is the church the Kaye's started and where everything is based) venture with us this week and it has just a peaceful feeling while at the dump. It was a great morning. When we got home we wanted to do something fun so we decided to rent a moped and go explore some nearby villages. We were pretty bummed at first because we went to a store which our guide book recommended and since it was Tuesday??? (we learned that a lot of businesses here just close on Tuesdays for some reason) it was closed. But not to worry! Everyone here knows of someone else who has what you are looking for. These guys told us about a guy who rents mopeds out of his liquor store and after a couple of blocks of walking, there he was. It's usually $20 for the day but we negotiated with him for $10 since it was already mid-afternoon. A couple helmets swaps and a rundown of the "moto" worked and we were off for the mountains. The weather was perfect for a little cruise on a moped and the villages were adorable. We first stopped at the Katarina Mirador which overlooks a gorgeous lake in the middle of a volcanic crater. There used to be a huge volcano and then an eruption made it collapse on itself so now theres this huge lake in the crater. We swam in the lake the week before and it was crazy creepy because you could not see the bottom. Supposedly it is about 600 ft deep! Who knows what is swimming below! Then we cruised thru other little villages all on the outskirts of the lagoona and back to Granada. We tried to take it dirt biking but decided for $10 this wasn't the best option. It was wonderful getting out of the city and getting some fresh air while celebrating Joe! Here are some pics from the day...love you guys!

Home is Where the Heat is

2009-11-07T12:17:00.000-08:00

Sooooo with three weeks left here in Granada we've finally found ourselves in a permanent (ish?) home..for the next three weeks!

When we first moved here we stayed with the head missionary family. They are the ones who lived in Cville who we were corresponding with since last Spring about being in Granada. In our correspondence they were always welcoming and very excited about us being here and being involved. One thing we never discussed is where we'd live once we got here. It never seemed like it would be an issue.

When we arrived they welcomed us into their awesome colonial home and the plan was that we'd move into the housing at the mission base after a few days of getting our bearings in the city. We soon found out that the staff housing is actually 2 dorm rooms separated by girls and boys. Having been married for about two months at the time, we weren't too pumped about summer campin' it for 2 months, so we decided to explore other options.

We were first referred to a kid named Ezekiel. Ezekiel is this hilarious, energetic kid who is involved with lots of things that on at the mission base, His family lives near the base and has an extra room in their house that they rent out to missionaries or students. We went to Ezekiel's house late one night and immediately found out that his family is awesome, and his house is hopping with excitement and people. The room we would live in was nice enough, had a shower inside, and the family bano was close by. We had access to the fridge that was located in the store the family ran out of the first floor (basement) of the house, and we could use the kitchen whenever we wanted. We immediately loved the family and were pumped to live in a Nica home.

The next evening when we pulled up to move in, there were even more people there than the night before (probably 30 people on the small porch and plenty more in the house). Ezekiel and his dad came out and informed us that one of Ezekiel's uncle had died and there would be lots of people over for the next few days, since the body and funeral would be right there on the porch. We were pretty shocked they still wanted us to move in right then with the mourning and crowd of people and said that we understood if it would be better if we waited for a few days. We certainly wanted to be respectful and not get in the way. They said certainly not and had us come in right away. We passed by the open casket, paid our respects, and moved through the crowd to our room. Everyone we spoke to on the way in, as we offered our condolences, was very excited to have us and acted as if everything was fine and happy (a big reminder that death is viewed much less solemnly outside of the US). It wasn't an especially warm nica evening but the house felt like an oven and I (Joe) was doused in sweat with 2 minutes of walking through the door. I soon realized that might pose a problem for sleeping. The amazing dad, Efraim,went and found us a fan (actually took it off the porch where the funeral/wake was going on)and insisted we take it in our room. The custom down here when there is a death, other than having the body in the house for a day or two is for family and friends to stay up with the dead all night the first night of the wake. We felt terrible exiting our room, for fear of being disrespectful to the deceased and his family and I was sweating every minute of the night due to the rainforest-like temperature :). I believe we both slept about an hour that night.

Within two days, the funeral craziness had calmed down and they had carried the body to the cemetery. Things were much calmer and relaxed in the house, we got to spend time talking with the family and the many other folks who live/stay in the house. They are all wonderful people. What didn't calm down was the heat inside the house though. The house has about 6 1/2 foot ceilings and is a nice thick tin roof, with concrete walls. It literally was like an oven! It was hilarious how much we'd sweat if we were in the house for more than a minute between about 8 AM and 7 PM. After a few days of not sleeping we started to wonder whether or not we could take it. The family was awesome but, the sweaty gringos were slowly going crazy. We decided that we'd have to bite the bullet and tell the family that we were going to move somewhere else.

It just so happened that one of the missionaries met an american "former nun" who just moved into a nice house near the mission base and wanted to find some young christians to live with her, rent free! We were quite excited about the opportunity and immediately went to meet the owner, Meryl, and check out the house. It was gloooorious! The air actually moved around, and we'd have about 3 times the space and 30 times the privacy! Meryl seemed very nice, and quiet as well. We moved in within 24 hours we knew something a little off might be going on. Be sure to ask us for more details in person, but it turned out Meryl felt extremely unsafe in the house and was scared of basically everyone she saw. We had to hire 2 guards to sleep there just so she would sleep. We had plenty of arguments with her about trusting people and living without fear, but we got nowhere. We got many, many stories from our time there but after about a week we knew we'd have to find a new place if we wanted to actually interact with people. Also, Meryl was moving to a place she thought would be quieter and safer.

We started knocking on every door in the area remotely close to the base and asking folks if they had an extra room, or if they knew anyone who did. We actually found quite a few options! But not too many in our price range, or that seemed sleepable.

Finally, on a random knock we found Ginger, who is also American and is staying here for a few months as a volunteer. She has an extra room in a amazing, comfortable, small house and figured she wouldn't mind some roommates. We moved in the next day to our 4th house in 4 weeks! We are happy now though, we can sleep without waking up in a pool of sweat and leave the door open for more than 12 seconds without being fussed at out of fear of an intruder.
We've even hired Ezekiel's aunt to cook for us twice a week and we got hang out on their porch to visit when the temperature is alright!

Birthday cakes and broken ovens...

2009-11-02T16:12:00.000-08:00

Today Joe and I were making guacamole dip and "trying" to bake a box cake for Joe's BIRTHDAY because we are having our friends over tonight to celebrate! We were chopping and mixing away when I went to pre-heat the oven and realized I had no clue how to ignite the gas oven. Joe came and looked and we could not find where to place the ignited match in the oven to start heating. There were 2 cute little old ladies talking right outside our door so we decided to ask them if they knew how to light the gas for the oven. They came in our house and first asked if we had any dogs because they were afraid of them...mind you there are about 20 stray dogs literally on EVERY street in this city but for some reason was scared of dogs in people's houses! They looked at the oven and said they didn't know what to do as well. I was beginning to think we were going to have a birthday party without the cake this year. But...the sweet, giving, thoughtful little ladies went next door and asked them if they knew how to turn the oven on but no luck, they were not certain either but did enlighten us to call the people who sold us the oven and ask them. Then, a few minutes later, the sweet, older of the 2 women, came back to our door with a gentlemen. He proceeded to come in, take a piece of the oven off, started the fire, and told us if there was anything else we needed his house was just a couple houses down. How incredibly nice of everyone but especially the older lady who looked everywhere to find us the solution to a working oven. Joe and I were thrilled we could have cake again for our friends and couldn't stop talking about how thoughtful that lady was and how this would probably never happen in a city in the States when again we heard someone at the door. It was the older lady again. She asked if we had any food for her because she was hungry! We have really had a hard time with this since being in Central America. A majority of folks here look at gringos only as a means to get money. Little kids are trained by their moms to come beg for money because they need food or the best one we have gotten is they need a prescription filled and actually show us a filthy old prescription they likely have been using for months (even when someone gives them money for the drug the day before). Our hearts break for these kids for not only the fact that they probably are hungry but they are taught to beg for money and that's their future (its also shocking an heartbreaking at how little importance is placed on schooling in many kids' lives).
We were especially convicted about how we need to respond to the beggars while reading James 2:15-16 "If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,' but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it?" We bought crackers and granola bars for this reason to give the beggars on the street when they ask for money because who knows where the money is actually going and all the guide books so DO NOT give the kids money. It has been wonderful to see the eyes of kids and elderly women receive food but it blows me away at the lack of shame and gratitude for these things...it's simply their way of life and that's all they know. We have grown accustomed to this behavior but tonight when our sweet new friend came asking for food it really caught me off guard. Nothing is completely free I guess and we, as Americans, have so much more everything than this country and we sincerely want to share what we have...but I had to laugh tonight thinking how "neighborly help" isn't so free down here!

Happy Bday to Joe tomorrow and thank Jesus for the incredible blessing of his birth!!!

Love-Julie

More from the dump

2009-10-17T15:37:00.001-07:00

People at work
Two Jose's at the dump. The shorter one has worked here for 18 years

Carla and her brothers waiiting for some food.

A boy reading (aloud) his new bible.

A new load of trash coming in.

The dump in Granada

2009-10-17T15:19:00.001-07:00

Serving the meal

We decided to teach the people the importance of washing your hands before eating this week and how our bodies are a temple of the Lord's and it's extremely important be clean before the Lord's eyes as well as for our health. The people were very excited to wash their hands with soap and water before eating

Stray dogs and buzzards come to search as well

A man working and storing his finding in his sack

The team loading up to go to the dump

News from Granada

2009-10-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and sorry again it has taken so long to post our travel adventures. We are now in Granada, Nicaragua and will be here for 7 weeks total which is extremely nice to settle in a bit and really embrace the city and the people. We were super tired of moving around from day to day while traveling to get here. We have loved having community again for the first time since we left the States. There are about 12 people here through AIM, a mission organization, for different reasons and for different lengths of time but it has been great to get to know them and have fellowship and get to know their hearts for their specific ministries.

Last week we took the oppurtunity to jump in with all the different activities between the groups and see what everyone was doing. We have prayed about what we wanted our 2 months here to look like and what we think God wants us to do while here and we really think that is to dive into 1-2 things rather than just be an extra hand in all the many activities and really get to know a few people rather than meet 100. So last week we went to everything to see where we felt the Lord was calling us. Some were definitely more apparent than others. Before we got here, Seth felt called to go to the hospital and talk and pray with patients although he has NO medical interest at all. We told him we would love to get involved in this and help him get this off the ground and set up for future teams who come down here to serve. Seth was excited about this and basically just gave us this ministry. We started last week and helped the nurses by taking vital signs of patients (blood pressure, temperature, etc) and then we got to talk to the patients and get to know them. Joe got a quick crash course in how to take vital signs and our medical work that morning was highlighted was a guy laughing and freaking out when we tried to tried to take his temperature orally. They always take temperatures in the armpit down here (??) and when he flinched (with good reason-to avoid and armpit sweat-filled mouth) we were afraid he was expecting a little rectal exam!!
This hospital is free and so a lot times they do not have certain medications or personal to do procedures to patients just sit and wait. The 2 guys we really got to know last week were both waiting for leg surgeries and had major infections but the hospital didn't have the correct antibiotics to treat them after the surgery so they are just there waiting and hoping they can have surgery soon. It is really sad but a great opportunity to share Jesus with them and tell them He is the ultimate healer.

We also went to the dump last week to serve a meal to the people working there. As we arrived to the dump in the back of a pick-up truck, I honestly didn't know if I could get out and walk around because the smell was so horrid and the flies where all over us. As soon as I drug myself out and saw the devastating picture in front of me I could not grasp what I saw. Entire families digging through the trash in a huge space of land to find food, scraps to recycle for money, and items they could resell at the market. Huge buzzards were everywhere and tons of stray dogs were wondering around. Mario, a Nica guy who is really involved with this ministry and works as a translator for many of the missionaries says these people are very heavy in spirit and think this is a punishment for something they did wrong in their lives and they deserve this. The kids don't go to school and they basically don't know life outside of the dump. They do not let kids under about 10 search through the dump now because of an incident at another dump about an hour away where kids from a candy bar and ate it and it actually was rat poison and the kids died. We sang to the people, served them food, and read them Scripture while we were there. It was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life and we are trying to figure out a way to get them out of there to a better life. If you get bored google Nicaragua dump and read about how a city near here is trying to change their community dump. I am trying to research ways to help the dump here.

Another huge ministry, and the main one the Kay's, the missionary family from Trinity, are involved in is a rehab center for men addicted to drugs or alcohol. They try to get them to come to Bible studies and other activities and then sponsor them to go to rehab in a nearby city. Frank and Bekah, a couple from Birmingham, have a huge heart for addicts and discipleship. Once they graduate from the rehab center, Frank will disciple the men and find them jobs and his wife Bekah will disciple the women in their lives since learning to trust these men again is a huge problem. It's been amazing to hear the stories of the men who have graduated and have given their lives to Christ and just the grace we have through Jesus.

We also went to Vida Joven (Young Life) this week to both club and campaigners. It was really fun to see kids literally off the streets fired up for Jesus. Some of the kids already have a criminal record, are addicted to drugs, and have no families but are starting to show interest in Vida Joven. It was really fun for Joe to be back in Young Life and having fun with teenage kids.

We also visited a girls home with the 4 girls on the team and helped them with their homework and played with them and just loved on them. Most of the girls have parents in town but for different reasons can't take care of the kids. They visit sometimes but the girls all live in the orphanage. It was a good experience but Joe and I both realized this isn't where our hearts are for the next 2 months and probably won't continue going.

There is also a feeding program in a nearby neighbor that we didn't have the chance to attend last week but are looking forward to seeing how that ministry goes. It is in a very poor neighborhood and the girls go and cook the food in blazing heat of a kitchen and serve them and play with the kids.

We also moved in with a family here in Granada which has been awesome and extremely hard. They are a great family with about 13 people living there but it's EXTREMELY hot, as in we can't go in our room from 9am-6pm, and not so private. Nobody down here has air conditioning either and it's at least 95 degrees everyday...crazy! We are praying about what to do whether to stick out the heat or find somewhere else a little more comfortable for us. Oh and the first night we moved in with them they had a funeral on the front porch. The uncle had drank some poison 12 days again, either accidentally or intentionally we aren't quite sure and passed away the day we arrived. They do not embalm bodies here so it was a little weird. People were in the streets being fed by the family until midnight and they all stayed awake with "the dead" all night. The next day the carry the casket to the cemetery and everyone walks with them. It was a little awkward moving in but an experience we won't forget!

Well that's a lot to keep you guys updated for now. We miss you all and would really appreciate your prayers for everything going on down here!
We love you!
Julie and Joe

2009-10-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

A soccer tournament we had today along with a yard sale (Nica's call it a "bizarre"), haunted house, food, and hair salon all at the mission base to raise money for Vida Joven (Young Life). The soccer tournament was played in the streets while cars and bikes continued to make their way through as boys were slidetackling each other.

Our new family, or a couple of the many of them...our aunt and cousin.

The hair salon-a total of 15 cords which is $0.75 for a haircut by Heather who I am pretty sure has never cut hair before!

More more more

2009-10-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

Ruth, Annie, and Kayla-girls part of a 13 week mission trip here in Granada.

Bekah, Seth, and Frank-Bekah and Frank from Birmingham are here for at least 1 year and Seth will be here for 2 years.

Angelfish from Honduras (above) and Joe and I (below)

Precious little Guatemalan girl canoeing down the Rio Dulce.

Pictures from Guatemala

2009-10-11T15:03:00.000-07:00

The ruins at Tikal

Semuc Champey

Our new friend and travel buddy Richard from Austria

Pictures pictures pictures!!!

2009-10-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

This is the room where all the action took place and Joe thought someone was in our room and woke up the entire hostel!

Craziness!!! We actually met up with Amber Roth in Antigua's central park on Guatemala's Independence Day!

Joe and I riding horses on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala...they were actually RUNNING at several points. At least it wasn't bareback!

My teacher Sheni in Xela in the garden which was our school! What a wonderful setting to learn!

Its Been Awhile!

2009-10-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

Howdy everybody!!

Its been a solid month since we last posted something. Sorry we are not very experienced or diligent bloggers. Its been a few pretty crazy, sometimes busy, and exciting weeks though.

We finished up our time in Xela on September 12. Julie`s classes finished up well and our time that last week at the clinic was really fun and we definitely felt like we were of use. It kinda felt like we were really settling in to the city as it was time to leave.

After leaving Xela we had about a week to travel through Guatemala before meeting Julie`s mom and stepdad in Honduras for a week. We definitely packed a lot into that week of traveling. Some highlights were taking a 4 dollar, 3-hour horseback tour around the volcanic lake Atitlan, meeting and traveling the week with a really cool Austrian dude, meeting our first (and after that our first 700) Israeli tourists, climbing and swimming through some jungle caves, climbing through some waterfalls and jumping off the top on a verrry safe rope tied to a rock, some sweet hikes, checking out Tikal (a huge Mayan ruin in the jungle that can be seen in Return of the Jedi). We also had two memorable nights... one was in a hostel in the middle of the jungle. It started with me waking up out of our tiny, smokin hot, loft room and barfing my guts out, then going back to bed and waking up half of the hostel a few hours later when I woke up swinging my fists and yelling because I was dreaming that there was someone in our room. This was followed by Julie and I talking for about an hour til we could fall asleep again, then we were up again when Julie spotted a pretty sizable scorpion about a foot from my head. Then the last event of our night of about 2 hours of sleep was me waking up again but to see Julie wide awake with her headlamp on, trying not to wake me up but she thought she had heard some footsteps. So, for the rest of the night we slept with our headlamps on. We were both pretty relieved to see the daylight and get the heck outta dodge. The other memorable night was spent in Honduras, who just went through a military coup about two months ago. We were there 2 nights before the overthrown president re-entered the capital. Our taxi driver wanted to drop us off at "the safest place in town" which happened to be overlooking the city square which was full of young people shouting and demonstrating in the streets. I told him that wasn´t quite what we called a fun night, so he took us to the next safest place, which he swore by. The place was clean and fine, but still definitely in earshot of the madness. It probably sounds worse than it really was, as there was no violence involved, but it was still pretty darn crazy.

Soon we arrived in an awesome resort in Roatan Honduras to do some scuba diving! Julie´s mom and stepdad were there waiting for us. It was sooo good to see them and for them to know we were safe and sound and that I hadn't lost too much diarrhea weight. The diving was absolutely amazing and inexpensive. We had a very relaxing week and it was a much needed break!

From there we flew (to avoid the Honduran capital) to Managua, Nicaragua and stayed there a few days to visit an orphanage just outside the city. It was really good to visit with the orphanage director and some of the kids who had been there since I was last here and for Julie and I to spend some time with other kids who were there relaxing on the Sunday afternoon.

Last Monday we realized we had a few free days until the mission base here in Granada was ready to have us, so we took the time to visit one of Julie`s best friends and her new husband honeymooning in Costa Rica! Honeymoon with Casey and Greg Cunningham!! We were bummed about missing their wedding but it was perhaps more special, and definitely more random to be a part of the honeymoon. We spent a couple of days there on the beach, highlighted by some good gringo food and getting to be surfer dudes for a day. We came through injury free!..and only 1 surfboard broken out of 4:)

We´ve been here in Granada, Nicaragua since Friday and are very excited about things going on here. We will update again soon with things we will be getting involved in here in Nica!

Love you all!

The Kidds

More from XELA!!!

2009-09-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! We are still alive and kicking down here in Guatemala! We posted some pics of what we have been doing the past week so enjoy! The clinic we initially were volunteering in just had no work for us and we felt the Lord could use us elsewhere. Joe had read about another clinic that has an associated language school with it so he went to talk to the director who was pumped to have us! Joe went on Friday morning while I was in class to the clinic and he said it was awesome! And...Joe was the pharmacist! There are a bunch of med students, a resident, and one legit MD all from MCV in Richmond who are taking classes at the language school and volunteering at the clinic. It's completely free for only indegenous people including all meds, exams, etc. Way cool! I am super pumped to help out next week there and watch Joe be the pharmacist!

We also visisted an orphanage this past week that our host family goes to every week to play with the kids. It was awesome but really sad! The kids were dirty as well as the facility but some of the happiest kids I have ever seen. We had a blast playing with them but it was hard to just leave without trying to change things there! We might be bringing home about 3-6 kiddos at Christmas!

Last but not least, we decided at the last minute to do a full moon hike last night. A guy who is living with us warned us how hard and cold it was but we thought no biggie! Oh it was a challenge though! We hiked straight up for 4 hours last night starting at midnight and then hung out on top in the freezing cold until the sun came up which was beautiful! There's 2 or 3 active volcanoes within 2 hours of where we are and you could see all of them erupting on top of Santa Maria. We were extremely close to one and could clearly see the huge crater and then the explosion that happens every hour. Needless to say... tonight we are home relaxing and recovering from the hike and getting some sleep!

We miss everyone like crazy but appreciate your thoughts and prayers!
We love you!
The Kidds

More from XELA!!!

2009-09-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

Joe playing with some kiddos at the orphanage
On top of Santa Maria-we did a full moon hike last night which was pretty brutal! We got to the top around 4am and hung out for about 2 hours where it was about 32 degrees!!! Holy cow it was COLD! In the background, there's a volcano that goes off every hour so we got to see it explode twice while on top of Santa Maria. Our legs are hurting tonight from the little 'walk'!!!
More fun with the kids at the orphanage...so adorable!

Julie es bilingual!!!

2009-09-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks!!

We have been in Quetzaltenango (nickname-Xela) now for a week and a half and will be here until the 11th. Xela is Guatmala´s second largest city. Its an old colonial city, pretty high up in the mountains and has a large indigenous population. It also has a lot of great Spanish schools without feeling very touristy at all. Thats why we´re here!

We both took classes last week and just Julie will be taking classes this week and next week. Classes are 1 on 1 for 4 hours a day so they´re pretty intense! We have homework and everything. Julie is doing awesome with her espanol! Its a tough, long process but she is coming right along and isn´t ever afraid to jump right in with what she knows, which is so very important in learning a language. I mean this professionally, not just as a sappy husband :)

Before or after our classes we´ve been volunteering at a clinic which serves underpriviledged and indigenous communities. Last week were were taking classes in the morning and volunteering in the afternoon. This wasn´t too great because the clinic normally has the vast majority of their patients in the morning and is pretty dead in the afternoon. We offered to help out with anything we could, which pretty much consisted of playing with the doctors´ and pharmacists kids´ and dusting the storage room. Also Julie tutored me on pretty much every drug in the pharmacy. Fot the remaining two weeks we´ve had the class schedule switched so that we can go to the clinic in the morning. This morning was much better, Julie helped out in the lab looking at blood samples and entering information and I asked patients a bunch of questions for a survey the clinic is doing to try to improve services. I asked a lot of questions and got a whole lot of who-the-heck-is-this white-guy looks. We´re looking forward to getting more of those and helping out over the next few weeks!

In other news, I haven´t wasted any time getting some Latin American sickness. I´ve had plenty of bacteria and even a parasite before, but this is my first time getting some kind of stomach fungus. Its not been too bad though, could be lot worse (bring it on lacking disinfectant system!!). I´ve just been really dizzy and not eating too much. A couple of times I´ve been stuck in bed and Julie has ventured out and used her Spanish (some fun medical and potty vocabulary) in some ways I´m sure she wasn´t expecting to so soon.

Also, today is our 1 month anniversary, so holler to that!!

Thanks so much for your support and for your emails! We appreciate them!

Love,
Julie and Joe

2009-08-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

This is us in the fogginess of Volcán Pacaya. Our guide, Lerry, said there wouldnt be any lava when we got to the top, but when a few of us wanted to go all the way anyway, there it was. Too bad we didn´t buy marshmallows from the 6 year old kids trying to sell them to us at the bottom!

2009-08-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Antigua, Guatemala on a hill called cerro de la Cruz!

All around Guatemala...or DC???

2009-08-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well...let´s just say our adventure started way before we even stepped foot in Guatemala! We left Broadway at 4am just as planned and arrived at Dulles 2 hours before our flight-flying has never been this easy with Joe and I. We said our goodbyes to Joe´s parents and went to check in. As soon as we told the check-in people our final destination they looked at us and said you have the wrong airport, you are flying out of Reagan International. Oh my! We called Joe´s parents to come get us and off we went across town in the middle of 6:30am DC traffic. Somehow we found a toll road that saved a huge amount of time and we actually made it to Reagan around 7am for our 8am flight. This was after stopping for gas as well because we didn´t know if we could even make it to the airport. We were nervous we might be too late considering the 2 hour mininum check-in for international flights but they let us check in just fine and then asked for our passports. They looked at Joe´s and said, "This is not a valid passport and you will NOT be allowed to travel." What the heck! He had accidently washed his in his pants about 3 years ago but has traveled probably 4 times since with no problem. They told us he had to go to the passport office to issue a new one which sometimes takes more than 1 business day. We decided for me to stay at the airport with all of our bags and for Joe to take a taxi into DC to deal with the passport. We only had 1 phone so Joe took it and off he went. About 4 hours later Joe came back and said he gave the sob story to some sweet lady and it should be ready in about an hour. The airlines changed our flight to 4pm so we were doing great! They were going to charge me extra to stay back with Joe since nothing was wrong with my passport and I just knew I was going to Guatemala City solo but the lady waived the fee so we could fly together when we said we were newlyweds. Joe then went back to the passport office and we both thought it would take about 30 minutes to pick up his passport and then he´d be back at the airport. At 2:15 I decided to ask a police officer if I could use his phone to see what was going on with Joe. Joe answered and said he was still waiting along with about 12 other people and it didn´t look great...and the office closed for the day at 3pm. Then, thank the Lord, Joe arrived at the airport around 3:00 so we checked in and FINALLY got to go to our gate. Other than that our flight was just fine.

We arrived in Guatemala City around 9pm and took a cab to Antigua and stayed in a hotel for $10. It was probably the moistest (I don´t even think this is a word) sheets I have ever slept on and didn´t smell too wonderful. We walked around the next morning getting aquainted with the city and decided to upgrade hotels a bit a few blocks away. Then we went for a short hike in the city and planned the rest of our stay. Yesterday, we climbed a volcano called Pacaya which was awesome! It was a pretty steep climb and super foggy! We got almost to the top and saw no magma or active lava and was pretty bummed. Then we decided to keep going a little bit farther and there it was...it was crazy! 10 feet below I was freezing in a fleece and then when we got to the top I felt like I was getting burned. The red was so vibrant under the rocks-it was beautiful and well worth the hike!

Today we are taking a bus to Panajachel and going to San Marco to do some yoga with some hippies and go to Lake Atitlan for a couple of days before starting our first stint of volunteering and language school in Xela. AND...Joe got an email last night for Christina Colopy who he lead YL with at Monticello and guess where she is right now??? Antigua!!! She has been volunteering in Nicaragua for the past year and is just traveling a bit before going back to Cville. We are actually meeting her in the parque central in just a few minutes...small world!

Well, that´s the Kidds so far. We still think it´s crazy that we are already down here and doing this thing that we have talked about for so long. Thanks for your many prayers and we already miss you guys like crazy!

Julie and Joe

We tied the knot!!!

2009-08-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well...it's official! Joe and I are now married. It was such a wonderful weekend with incredible friends and family. We started the weekend off with a square dance and some good ole BBQ which eventually grew into 20 grown men playing games in the pool during the thunderstorm. Friday and Saturday were some of the most memorable times Joe and I have had and will cherish forever. Our pictures from the wedding will be up shortly so please take a look! www.daisyclients.com

After the amazing weekend we headed to Maine for a week to honeymoon and explore. We were blessed with perfect weather, awesome places to stay, and even a 2009 Mustang as a rental car when Joe sucked up to the car rental company and said it was our Honeymoon! It was a perfect break from the Tennessee humidity before we head to (even hotter!) Central America.

Now we're back in Chattanooga, getting ready to head to C-ville and Broadway to say our last goodbyes and get packed up. We head out next Tuesday, 8/18!!

We love you!