Basketball/Travel

Dear Family and Friends,

It's hard to believe we've been living in Guatemala for nearly three months. We are beginning to feel settled finally, especially since we seem to be feeling less ill and more healthy each week. This week Joshua struggled with a stomach bug, but he is well now and back to his old self. Basketball practices continued for both Josh and David, as David is assisting with the coaching of the middle school team. You can see David in the picture above coaching one the boys on freethrow shooting. They have their first games next weekend, so it will be an exciting time for all.

Kayley is enjoying school and is seen above outside her classroom door. There are eleven children in her class and she really enjoys her teacher. Kayley aspires to be a teacher one day, or maybe a "store person." She likes playing store, selling items and visiting with pretend customers.

We believe we have found an alternative to traveling outside of Guatemala every three months. It's not finalized yet, but we hope to hear in a few days that the process is completed and our visas have been extended- at least for now. We're thankful as the cost of travel and the time away from schooling is not something we were looking forward to.

David traveled today with Bernie Slingerland (head of evangelism for Mexico and Central America) to Coban, an area about 3 hours from Guatemala City, for a training workshop that Bernie led. They had a good time and the response to the workshop was very positive. David got to practice his spanish and enjoyed the drive as well. We're thankful they had a safe and easy trip.

David and Shelley will be taking their Level C exams this week, most likely on Wednesday. Thanks for your prayers as we strive to remember all we've studied in the last three months.

God bless your week.

Our Love,
The Webb Family

Week in Review

Hello All,

We’ve had another good week studying Spanish in Antigua. Each day at 10am we take a 30 minute break to rest our brains. David and I like to walk and stretch our legs, so many days we walk to the McDonalds in Antigua. This is the nicest McDonalds I have ever seen. The service is exceptional. Sometimes they even have a person hired to fill your ketchup container! The best part of all is the beautiful view of the volcano from the spacious garden. The picture above shows the view we stare at daily. WOW!

Joshua started basketball practice after school this week. David is helping to coach and they both seem to enjoy it, even if they are exhausted by the time they get home at 5:15 p.m. There are 23 boys out for the Middle school team so they head coach really needs the assistance of David to keep all those boys focused. Joshua is the youngest player but is hanging in there with the 7th and 8th graders.

The Nissan gave us another surprise this week. After language school on Thursday, the car would not start and we had to “hitch” a ride with another couple from our city of San Cristobal. It was a blessing to have a way home. The car was towed to San Cristobal and was fixed the next day. Once again, something had been knocked loose between the battery and the starter, but it’s once again in working order… For now. We’re glad it was nothing major.

Today I started Kayley on an antibiotic for a throat infection. I kept hoping her cough would disappear, but after a month of congestion, it hasn’t happened. The man in the farmacia was very helpful and put up with my limited Spanish. And I’m grateful that no prescription is required here to buy antibiotics. We’re hoping we are coming to the end of 2 a.m. coughing fits. (It’s like having a baby in the house again! I’m too old for all that.)

Well, that’s about all for this week.
God bless,

Shelley, David, Joshua and Kayley Webb

Happy Birthday David!

Hello Everyone,

Last Friday was David’s birthday, so we celebrated at language school by having some of the teachers sing “Feliz Cumpleanos”. It was great fun to surprise and embarrass him. Then we had a special family meal ordered out from a Chinese restaurant nearby. Yes, we have wonderful Chinese food in Guatemala. Since we’ll be here for one year, we will each get a birthday in Guatemala. David’s was first, but Kayley is reminding us regularly that she is next on the schedule in May. She is already counting the days until her 8th birthday.

The kids are feeling better this week and we’re thankful for less coughing. It was Shelley’s turn to get feel ill this week as she caught some sort of stomach bug. NOT FUN! Thankfully it didn’t last too long and we’re all well now. We’re praying that no one else comes down with it.

For those of you who know Spanish, we’re learning the past imperfect. Who made up this stuff anyway? I’d like to have a word (in English) with that person. But we’re catching on. I had to laugh the other day as I was explaining my frustration about past imperfect to a native speaker and the person said, “Oh, I have trouble with that too!” That was encouraging! If he can’t get it, how can I? Well, we’ll keep trying anyway.

Tomorrow is Field Day at the kids’ school. They are participating in different races throughout the day. We hope to see them race some in the afternoon after language school. They are excited about a day without regular classes.

An update on the vehicle: The red Pathfinder had only a minor problem. The battery was knocked loose. Now how could that happen here in Guatemala? Hard to understand, isn’t it? With the streets being so perfectly smooth and all. It’s had some reconstructive work under the hood and apparently it’s ready to hit the bumps once again. Another praise! Have a great weekend and God bless,
The Webbs

Zone Six Church

Dear Family and Friends,
It’s been another good week here in Guatemala. Nothing spectacular to tell, so I guess life has gotten into a comfortable routine.

We have been attending church in Zone Six with a Nazarene congregation there (see the picture above). We are enjoying it and understanding more every time. Lately, the Webb adults have been going to Children’s church with the kids. At first, this was because Kayley would not go without Mommy, but now, it’s because the adults learn more there (understand more) and of course the snacks are always a plus! We hope to graduate to adult service in a couple months. We enjoy the music at the church, especially when the projector is working and the words are on the wall. We take the dictionary and look up phrases as we go along. It’s an interesting way to do church!

This week both David and Shelley passed their Level B exams for language school. This level was tougher than the first and some people have said it’s the roughest one because of the amount of material and memorization required. We’ll see since we are beginning Level C now. We’re both glad to have the stress of exam day behind us again for awhile.

The kids are feeling better each day and they are coughing less each day. We are thankful for so many people praying for them as they have adjusted to Guatemala. Our car seems to be sick now…it overheated yesterday, but we’re so thankful we got home before it got too hot. It’s in the shop now, so we’ll see the damage later today or maybe tomorrow.

Feel free to email us at shelwebb@hotmail.com. Some days the server is down, so it may take a few days to respond, but we’ll get back with you.

God bless your day,
The Webbs