View of Antigua

Hello All,
As most of you know, we travel daily to Antigua for language school. A couple weeks ago we took the kids along so they could share in the experience of language school too. In the afternoon, we took a drive up to the cross on the side of the mountain to enjoy the view. It was beautiful and we all enjoyed looking down over Antigua, and we thought you might enjoy the view as well.

It has been a busy week with many school activities. This must mean that the school year is winding down. Joshua had basketball games and practices as well as an awards banquet last night. Joshua was honored with the top student in his grade for his Bible Study class. We're very proud of him for being recognized after such a short time at the school. Joshua also participated in the yearly Cultural Fair where he made a display and spoke to students about his chosen country: Kenya. Kayley had soccer practices and a music concert. Soccer games will be coming up in the next two weeks. And Kayley wouldn't forgive me if I didn't mention that she is turning 8 very soon. Every morning the entire family is involved in the ritual of counting the days until May 3rd.

The adults are busy as well with much studying planned for this weekend. We'll take a little time off on Saturday to spend time with the kids, but the rest of the weekend will be devoted to preparing for our next round of exams this week. We're studying the perfect tenses and direct and indirect objects, if anyone is interested! We're glad this weekend is a long one with Monday being Labor Day in Guatemala.

Saturday night all Guatemalans will "spring ahead" as we say in the states. This has been fun to experience here since most Guatemalans are quite nervous and concerned about this change. The government has not changed the time for 15 years, so it's not a common occurrence. In the newspaper it explained how it's not necessary to get up at midnight to change the clock but that you could set it ahead when you go to bed at say, 9pm. My teacher says that even though the people will change their clocks, they will still "think" in the old/real time. It will be interesting to see how many people respond to this change.

We're all getting ready for the changes that summer will bring. Mom and Dad are ready for a break from language school and they want to work more on applying these new learned skills to ministry. The kids are scheduled to attend a week long camp in June and we'll be going to Mexico, if things stay as planned, for a week in July for One Heart, Many Hands, a work trip to minister in the southern part of Mexico. If you want to come along, you can...there's still time to sign up! We'd love to see you there.

That's about it for this week. We pray God is blessing you wherever you are as He is blessing us here in Guatemala. Have a great weekend!
The Webb Family

Lake Atitlan

(Lake Atitlan)

Dear Friends and Family,

All is well this week, but as we settle into a routine here more and more, we find we are busier with life’s activities. This week was basketball and soccer practices for the kids, paperwork and language study for mom and dad, and an elementary concert on Friday evening at the school and basketball games on Saturday morning. All are great things, but as you know, life can get a little too busy sometimes. This part of the school year is that way, and it looks like another busy week coming up with two school functions next week in addition to the regular routine. All this will change in June as we transition into an entirely new schedule for the summer (or as they call it here, winter!).

Last week, we had the opportunity to visit Lake Atitlan. It was an adventurous day. We left at 6:00 a.m. and headed out into the fog. Yes, fog and lots of it. Normally, the sun burns it off after rising, but not this day. What normally takes a little more than 2 hours took us three to reach Panahachel. We saw little more than the car in front of us. But God made the way for us. As we came over the mountain and down to the area of the lake, it cleared up completely. We had a wonderful view of the lake and surrounding mountains. Even one good look at it all was worth the 3 hours in the car. BEAUTIFUL!

We ate a fast breakfast and headed for the pueblo called San Marcos. We rode a boat for about 20 minutes to reach this area that was devastated by flooding and mud slides last fall. A work and witness team from Coban, another city in Guatemala, was there to assist in the cleaning and rebuilding of the center part of the city. After quite a hike (basically straight up the side of the mountain, and it’s a tall mountain!) we reached the local Nazarene church where the team also held a medical clinic. There were many people patiently waiting for assistance and medication prescribed by a doctor on the team. It was wonderful to meet the people here who are sacrificially giving of their vacation time to serve others. After a rocky boat ride back to the other side (this was Joshua’s favorite part!) we headed back to Guatemala City and arrived at home around 6 p.m. It was a great day of being awed by God’s creation.

This blog has gotten long enough, so I’ll save some sharing for next week. God bless you all!

The Webbs

Holy Week in Guatemala

It is Easter week (Holy Week) and we've had an exciting time. Monday and Tuesday the kids joined us for language study in Antigua. They both enjoyed the experience of having their own teachers and learning some more spanish. Each afternoon we walked the streets of Antigua, ate lunch in the park and saw the sights.

The first picture above is of a procession in Antigua. A procession is an old Catholic tradition where men (or in this case the women) carry the "anda." The anda is a large wooden platform and on top is a statue of Jesus or Mary or another saint in the Catholic church. This is done to remember the suffering of Jesus in the days preceeding his death and resurrection. The people pay money to be a part of a procession. The people also decorate the streets with beautiful alfombras or carpets made of colored wood shavings. It really does look like a bright, beautiful carpet. This was all very interesting to see. Good Friday is a huge holiday here, but it doesn't seem that Easter Sunday is any big deal. We've been told the protestant church service will be the same as usual with no special mention of the resurrestion of Christ. Very different and interesting.

On Thursday we had the opportunity to travel to Lake Atitlan. It is the largest lake in Guatemala and is over 1000 feet deep in some places. We'll share more about this adventure in our next blog.

Today we went to an Easter egg decorating party for the kids. We ate a delicious brunch and then the kids colored bunches of eggs. They had a great time as you can see by the picture. The Dads had a fun time as well playing basketball in the School of Mission courtyard. We have spent the afternoon studying spanish to be ready for Monday. We only have six more weeks of language school before beginnning our ministry work for the summer months. We are hoping to complete Level D this month and cover most of the material in Level E before the end of May. We are both beginning to understand more and more of the conversations we hear, so this is encouraging. Keep praying for us to speak spanish with confidence and accuracy!

God's blessing to you this week,
The Webbs

Semana Santa

Hello All,
This is the beginning of Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Guatemala so this is the kids' spring break week. They are excited to have a break from their normal routine at school. Today (Saturday) we went to a nearby park called Eco Aventura with the Stevens' family. It's a like a very small zoo (monkey, ostrich, birds, reptiles etc...) with playgrounds and a pool. There are not many pools here in Guatemala, so this was a real treat. We are blessed to have it so close to our home, as it is probably a five minute drive. The kids had a blast as you can see from the photos! And we couldn't believe there was hardly anyone else there!


On Monday we'll take the kids with us to language school. They have not had the opportunity to learn very much spanish, so we are getting them teachers and "letting" them study for two days with their very own teachers. In the afternoons we can sightsee a bit before heading back to the city. Later in the week, we plan on traveling to Lake Atitlan with is about 2.5 hours away. Everyone says it is just beautiful so we are excited about this day trip.

Thanks for your continued prayers as we work each day to learn more and more spanish. There are times it feels like it will never happen for us, but we remember that persistence and determination are much of the battle. So, we keep keepin' on with the Lord's help. We are thankful for great health the last couple weeks other than a nasty fall for Joshua in basketball practice. It's healing now and he played well in a game on Friday afternoon.

God bless you all as you enter Holy Week.

Love, The Webb Family

Children's Church

Hi Everyone!

This is Sunday and our church here is the Zona Seis Iglesia Del Nazareno (Zone Six Church of the Nazarene). The kids are still getting used to going to Children's church by themselves as they have a hard time understanding the lesson, but as long as one of us parents goes along, they feel comfortable. This picture is of Kayley with some of her new friends in Children's Church. Her best buddy is Maria, the girl to Kayley's left. Maria finds Kayley every Sunday and does her best to take care of her and show her what to do. The kids are learning Spanish, but it's more slowly than mom and dad since they are in an english speaking environment all day. Joshua has learned some useful phrases and can hold a short conversation with the other kids at church.

Good News! David and Shelley passed their exams for level C this week and so it's onward and upward to Level D. Our studying will be interrupted a little bit the week of Easter. That week is called Semana Santa (holy week) and many people travel to Antigua to view the "processions." It takes around 80 people to carry a specially made platform that carries a statue of Jesus. Sometimes the processions take many hours to complete. This is an old Catholic church tradition. Because of the festivities in Antigua, we will only study for 2 or maybe 3 days that week. I've heard that 40,000 enter the small town for that weekend. That week is also the children's spring break week, so they may be taking some spanish classes in Antigua with us for those few days.

We are thankful for another good week and for so many family and friends. God bless,

The Webb Family