San Lucas Toliman

The traditional fishing boats.
This is such a spiritual place - I loved walking down to the lake and just spending time in quiet reflection.
There was a peacefulness in the quiet of the shore.
San Lucas from an approaching view.
There is a holiness of this town. A town with such a history of violence, of pain, suffering, also of joy, love, peace, and compassion.
The town is nestled in the growth of greenery.
It is the people that bring life to this place, the people are full of joy, happiness, vibrancy, and love.
This mission is unlike anywhere else on earth. One must experience it to understand. There isn't any words that could explain such a place.
A hidden beauty

Tour of San Lucas from the back of a Pick-Up Truck

Cliff Jumping In Guatemala - Lake Atitlan

Go Tim - My crazy Brother.
Nice landing
Go Jessica
Nicole - wild woman
Flying through the air.
Fearless Jessica
30 foot jump
a header....
Superman Sean
Free as a bird

Mackenzie
The jumping cliffs
Nicole feel in love with cliff jumping (50 + jumps) a new record.
The gang
Go Girl....

San Lucas Mission

The church is ~ 400 years old and beautiful.
This is such a holy and special place - you can just feel it.
The Altar facing the pews.
Nicole, Mackenzie, Liz and Sean relaxing on the steps of the church.
My brother Tim taking it all in.
Tim with the kids at mass.

Music

We were so lucky to have Tim and Sean who can play instruments, their music in the evenings was truly wonderful.

Click on the PLAY button to hear them sing and play....

I cannot believe how talented Mackenzie is at the piano. She would often hop on the piano and her music is mesmerising....

Crazy Girl ! Is that Piano Dancing?

Sean and Jean Paul --- Get down!!!!

Friends

One of the best things about the mission is meeting such great people. Even though we might only see them for 2-4 weeks, it seems as if the friendships that develop are much deeper than that. Here are some of our friends:

Maria and the kids...

Molly
Jessica
The girls, we kinda adopted them.....
Felix, he made Liz a balloon animal for her birthday....He is really a nice man.
Our crew.....(Nicole on the left)
The crew again....
Bishop of Solala (He really isn't our friend) but he would be, he just doesn't know it yet.
Soon to be Deacon Ricardo (Holding the Book of the Gospels)
Three Deacons (Deacon Pat, and on August 9th: Deacons Giovanni and Ricardo) and then they will priests in about 6 months - God willing.
Sean with our new friends from Michigan.


Brother Tim
Brother Kevin - You look different, Did you get a hair cut, or different color contacts?
Father Greg
Wicho - my new friend this year. What a special and nice man. He worked at our hotel and we had such nice visits.
Katherine - a long term volunteer.

She is with her class from the school.

Don and Dona Roli.
The kids from Michigan - they were such a special group of people - Big hearts, nice, GOOD PEOPLE......
The Michigan Group. They invited us over to one of their nightly reflections. I enjoyed them very much.
Deacon Benjamin. He will be ordained to the priesthood this month. He is holding a gift from Judith Brown. She painted this Icon and we delivered it to him as an ordination gift.


This is Stephanie that we met last year. She returned with her two brothers to show them San Lucas. She is from Maryland and is a very special person. She had been a long term volunteer at the mission in the past.
Julio - a driver for the mission. He immigrated to the US, didn't like it, and returned to Guatemala.
The two students that our friends from Redding CA, the Gee's, sponsor.
Renee
Margarito - He is the man who runs a lot of the operation at the mission. he is a nice, warm, and caring man....

What I enjoy the most about San Lucas is that people are more important than anything else. Work never gets in the way of relationships..... The people will always stop what they are doing to talk to you, help you, visit with you. People are truly more important that everything else....

Food - Food -Food

Guatemala is such a great place, you have traditional Guatemalan food, or you can always find something that looks a little familiar.
This was Mackenzie eating a burger in Antigua (Big City).
Here is the chow hall / meeting room at the mission. This is how we eat all of our meals. We start with a prayer, and then through the self serve line.
Tonight we were having spaghetti, sauce, and avocados.
And always tortillas.......Corn....
We found a small taco shop with great food. This plate was 15 quatzales = $2.
The new taco place.

Saritas - They even have ice cream. Nothing like American Ice Cream... It is really delicious.
Go to town girl, Is that mango Ice Cream?
We even found Cueva de Leon (A restaurant that serves blended Coffee Drinks) OK we are over doing it, back to the mission and to the villages, no more of this city life.
What, take my Coffee away.....

San Andreas (Village) - Still My Favorite Village

The village has a new church and when we arrived these were the local ladies who were cleaning the church. They were so nice and funny, when I asked to take their picture, they all took off their aprons and giggled.....
On lookers watching us visit the church.
We climbed to the top of the steeple with our new friends.
Sister and brother.

A beautiful boy.
Just 2 years ago there wasn't any streets that were not pure dirt, and the houses were all tents.
Inside of the church.
My new friend who loved having her picture taken.
Hey who is that American....

I was walking down the street and say this man kneeling in his living room at his personal altar. I said Hola y Buenas Dias, and he invited me into his home. He told me that the parish had trained him for four years and now he has a small pharmacy in his home and is in charge of caring for the ill of the village. What a nice, humble, and holy man......
Children of the village.
Kids will be kids. The new Basketball / Soccer field.
Liz and village Kids.
Local ladies.

Our ride broke down on the way to the village, so we walked.......What a great hike. EXCEPT, the girls were wearing thongs (Sandals) and didn't expect to walk miles....But they were troopers.
Nice hike.
Beautiful morning.
When we arrived to the village we had about 50 pictures from the last two years of visits. We asked this little girl (Katie) is she knew the people in the pictures. She knew everyone in the village and took us house to house to give the pictures to them. For many of the people, this was their only picture of themselves. Katie was so honored to help and was soooooo cute.
This boy jumped up on the rock pile and asked if I could take his picture.

Work

Here is my daughter working in the Mission School.
The is the library where Liz and Mackenzie worked. They really enjoyed visiting with the children.
Here is Nicole with Mackenzie. Work or play, not sure.....
One of our projects was to make a futbol (Soccer) field for the kids. Here is Sean with his new friend Jean Paul.
We had to get rid of the rocks, only the bad rocks, the good ones were taken away to make gravel.
We had a little accident, The (pala) shovel won. Not really, it was a small accident, but it didn't slow Sean down. He just kept working.
I told Sean that the girls will love it......And he can get at least 5 years worth of wild stories out of it....he agreed....pretty cool.

Sean, Jean Paul and their workers....
What a team.
The dirt was flying. We enjoyed the kids helping during their recess.
A better picture of the playing field.
We ended up digging a 4 feet deep hole by 10 yards, spread the dirt over the field, and then filled the huge hole up with rocks. Great project.

Then we moved on to break up big rocks into small rocks to be used for gravel for the cement. There is no calling a cement truck. Everything is done by hand.
I think every teen age boy should spend a day or two making gravel out of large rocks. What a humbling experience.
Sean was a great worker. One day My two brothers, Sean and I broke rocks......great bonding. It didn't even get rocky......
Go Tim!

Our Group

This is our group:

My brothers Tim and Kevin, My wife, children, and

our new daughter Nicole.

I am the handsome one of the left....

Andreas

This is Andreas. He is a well respected Mayan Leader. We were invited into his living room the hear his thoughts and about his life in Guatemala.
He is such a spiritual and holy man. Jessica and Molly (Our new friends) helped with the interpretation of his Spanish.
Andreas' Kitchen.

Panajachel

I really didn't get any good pictures of this great little town, but I will show you the shore line.
Nice dock......

Santiago, Atitlan

This is the site of Father Stanley Rother, Martyr of the catholic faith.
Father Rother was the pastor of the parish in Santiago until he was killed in the 1980's during the civil war.
The room where Father Rother was killed.

Many feel that he will be a saint.
Here is the blood stain of Father Rother. We are holding pictures of a child whose parents are praying for a miracle for their child.
Here is the bullet hole of the deadly shot that killed him.

The church and statues used in processions.
The chapel.There were so many people that mass was held outside the church as well.
The feast of St. James (Santiago)

Mass

After Mass
The beautiful and ancient statues.

Beautiful Lagoon

The port of Santiago. We arrived by boat.
I just love the traditional fishing boats.
We are off by boat to the next village on the shore of Lake Atitlan.
Beautiful picture of the dock.
Many of the villages are surrounded by Volcanoes.

Do you have a license to drive those?

Parish Projects

The Mission has so many projects currently that it is difficult to name them all. I was told that the parish has over 400 local people working for it in a variety of projects. However, I will mention a few. Here are a few volunteers working with my son placing dirt into bags for the reforestation program.
Sifting the dirt dug up from the ground. You wouldn't believe how rich the soil is.
After the bags are prepared, seeds are placed into the bags and grown until they can be replanted across Guatemala.
More varieties of plants grown for replanting.
Larger plants
This is such a special and needed project for the people of San Lucas.

The woman's center is almost complete. This is a center that the local women can gather to socialize, learn new skills, and find a support system at the same time completing their necessary life chores.
This is a large cistern being built for the women's center.
Women's Center

Cafe

The coffee business is life supporting for many of the families.
The parish has helped the families export their coffee for 10 times the rate that they were receiving locally.

The parish doesn't accept any profit for its work.

The coffee beans.

We are hearing about the process of growing and preparing coffee.

More education.

The is the Jardin de Vida (Garden of Life).

Natural medicine is very important to the Mayan people and here is an herbal medicine garden.

Herbal medicine

The local clinic and hospital.
The nursing station.
The hospital, currently empty...That is a good thing.
Hall of the hospital.
The dental clinic.

A few times a year American Dentists visit the clinic and provide free services.
The administrator's office. I am a little jealous that my office in my hospital doesn't look like this...

Transportation

Hang on............
Most people jump in back of the parish trucks to get around.
How many can you get into a truck....
Or you can try a chicken bus if you desire a longer trip.

Mass

Here is Father Greg and soon to be Deacon Giovanni.

Mass in San Lucas is so holy.

La Puerta Village

This is such a special village.

In many ways it is now one of my favorite villages.

The village is only a 15 minute walk from San Lucas Toliman.

You wouldn't believe that while in San Lucas I was preparing a homily for the Sunday that I return home.

The topic of the homily was to be on "Feeding the 5000."

Beautiful spiritual paintings on the wall of the park.

"Feeding the 5000"

This was a house that the parish is building for a large local family.
The banana tree in the park (Free Lunch)
Sean and I standing next to a typical house.

The parish is slowly helping the families obtain proper housing.
My brother Tim and son Sean walking the streets of La Puerta.
A local of La Puerta.

A local family.

The village

Fun Time

There is so much to do for fun in San Lucas. We have a special place that we like to swim.
The water is deep and just the right temperature, not to warm and not too cold.
Hi everyone......
Here is Mackenzie and Molly taking it all in and enjoying each other.
Nicole is about ready to jump in off the table.
Or, a nice boat ride across the lake.Mackenzie with Angie, what a nice pair of girls (oops, sorry, women)
Sean and Liz cruising back to San Lucas from Panajachel.What a great day.
Mackenzie said she had enough sun so she went under to the covered section. She was the smart one, since a huge thunder storm was approaching.

Plenty of time to play cards outside the church.
or while waiting for meals.

Or, even cards back at the hotel.....

Cook'n with Ruth (Sounds Like a TV Show)

Liz , Mackenzie , and Nicole want so much to learn how to cook Guatemalan style.

So they visited our friend Ruth and asked if she would teach them how to cook.

So they hit the streets on market day and bought all the food.

Liz said it was a little weird buying food like dead chickens, pork, and beef from hanging poles in the street market, but it is the only way in San Lucas.

Then the process begins, the preparation of food and spices.

Mixing the ingredients.

More spices and ingredients.More mixing, cooking (Can you tell I don't know what I am talking about)
Ok whatever.....
Washing the banana leaves to wrap the papa dish, they are used like corn husk in tamales.
Doesn't it look good.

Look'n even better.
Now after a 2 day process, we are at a feast.

I forget the name, but this was a potato disk, with spices that was out of this world.

Her famous Chile Relleno.

They are the best thing I ever tasted (Except your cooking Liz, of course)

I call this a salad, but I am told it wasn't.

It had a kick you wouldn't believe.

Beautiful Flowers.

Everywhere you walk you are surrounded with beauty.
The most beautiful flowers are everywhere you turn.
The colors of the flowers enhance the beauty of this very special place.
Even the trees and bushes have such wonderful color.
Not only is it lovely to look at but the air is filled with such sweetness.

Liz's Birthday (July 29th)

We were so happy to spend another one of Liz's birthdays in San Lucas. It was her.............25th, yes her 25th birthday.......Again.

She was showered with gifts.
We had a great dinner.

Here is Mackenzie and Maria.

My family with professor Beto, Ruth, and Maria at the Restaurant.

Don't drink the Salsa Maria....The food is coming.

We want food, we want food....

Really Professor, The food is coming.

The Bistec was great.

Liz had the shrimp.

The whole crew awaiting the desert.

Our friend Rene had a special cake made for Liz.

And the traditional face plant into the cake.....Sorry Liz, It will come out of your nose, I promise, Some day......

Pinata Time.

Let me spin her.....

Turn Sean around at least 20 times....

Hurry, move the pinata, Sean is going to smash it...

There it goes...

Candy everywhere...

Returning Home

What a great trip. We rushed to the airport to find that our flight was delayed 3 hours. So how did we pass the time.....with music and song...
What a great day to fly....
The happy family returning home. Mackenzie in her Guatemala clothes.
Sean listened to music for both of the 3 1/2 hour flights.
We always stop for Texas Bar-B-Q on our layover.

We are returning once again to San Lucas (July 17, 2008)

Our family is returning to San Lucas Toliman again this summer on July 17, 2008.

We have been able to stay in contact with some of our friends from the area and look forward to spending time together again.

There is a piece of San Lucas Toliman that we carry in our hearts all year and now we can hardly wait to be engulfed in the serenity, beauty, and peace of the Guatemalan people and culture.

Contact Info

We have been blessed by having many people enjoy this blog and request to e-mail us. We are always happy to answer questions about the mission or to just share our thoughts and feelings with others. We would enjoy hearing from you. Our e-mail address is as follows: patkearns@sbcglobal.net

My Thoughts, Status Post Guatemala x 7 days

Almost every day I realize just how lucky I am to have such a great family who is willing to share my dreams, inspirations, and journeys. They even put up with my ever so prevalent short comings. Thank you Lord.

Well, We have been back from our mission trip for 7 days now and have begun to reintegrate back into our culture again. You might wonder what is so difficult about returning to our environment after being gone only 30 days? Well, Good Question.

There is something very special that happens in Guatemala, or at least for me in Guatemala. The culture is so very different. There is such a feeling of calmness, peace, and tranquility, that at first feels very unusual, but eventually absorbs you. The pace is always smooth and slow, never rushed. Most things that might be considered very important to you and me, are always kept in perspective. What truly is important is family, friends, and faith. One must consider having shelter and food, but everything else is secondary and not necessarily an essential.

I couldn't help but feel in Guatemala and upon returning to the states that what I experience in Guatemala must be what was intended to be the way we should live our lives. People consistently greet each other on the streets, genuinely care about each other, and are always willing to stop what they are doing to help a person in need. There isn't a focus on saving for the future, but rather living life day by day and sharing what you have with others.

I do realize just how well we live in America, and the many great aspects of being American. There are many wonderful, caring, and giving people in America, and without attempting to stereotype all people, I must say we have lost so many important qualities in our society. We have become very self centered and uncaring.

My view of immigration has changed this summer.

During my trip I had become good friends with a Guatemalan man, Rene.
Rene is about ~50 years old, he lives in San Lucas Toliman, he had attended university and has a wonderful demeanor and personality. He was the care taker of the house we stayed in while on vacation / mission. Rene earns the usual minimum wage of 25 Quetzales a day ($3.50). He lives in a small room on the grounds of the property and must buy food from the street vendors, small restaurants, etc. each day. Breakfast cost is 5 Quetzales, Lunch is 15 Quetzales, Dinner is 10 Quetzales. Food for one day = 30 Quetzales. He doesn't even make enough money to eat 3 meals a day, he usually skips breakfast. What if he needs a pair of shoes, pants, etc.

I spent many nights sitting on the porch talking with Rene. He stated that his situation is no different than most others in San Lucas. His dream would be to go to the United States. He knows that he can get a job for minimum wage (~$7 or $8 an hour = $64 a day) and his life would be much different. He said he could share a small apartment with 5-6 other people, not have to worry about having food to eat, and could send money back home to help his relatives.

He had tried the legal route of immigration through the government, but they denied him. If you are not wealthy, or do not have connections, almost everyone is denied. The cost of just an interview for possible consideration of a visa is $100 ( He makes $3 a day). The chance of legal immigration appears impossible for this man.

At times it is so very difficult to understand why so many people must struggle every day and why we have it so easy. The only difference is that I am an American and he (Rene) is not.....

Yet, I am drawn back to Guatemala, poverty and all, because they have something that I do not have. They live in a culture of people who love each other, give more often than choose to receive, and are courteous beyond what most Americans could comprehend.

I am not Anti-American, I just think we have strayed way off track, and I hope and pray that our part of the world can change. Maybe one person at a time can make a difference, and with the grace from God and if it is His will, I will try to do my part.

Rene and the people of San Lucas remain in my thoughts, in my heart, and in my prayers each day, and I can hardly wait to see them all again next year.

Pat Kearns

More of the Village San Andreas

This village is very special for me. I had the opportunity to meet many of the village people this year, work along side them, and to see just how humble these people are. For most of the people who live here, this is the first time they have owned anything. They now own their own homes and can never be asked to leave. 1 year ago, all the homes in San Andreas (~162) looked like this.
1 year later, the homes are now block and the streets are almost completed.
Don't I look like a supervisor?
Look at those hard working people..
Mackenzie showing of her muscles with that shovel.
Girl Power
Everyone in the village help with the construction of the new church, even the kids.

This is the current church.
This will be the new church.
The new church.
Mackenzie looking at the difference between the churches.

Lets Go Shopping at the Market.

The street market is a great place to see people, visit, and buy your food and other things. Most shopping can only be done at the street markets.
This is where you buy your meat.
Busy market day.
fruit and vegtables
Don't you just love the colors.
I'm not sure what type of meat this is, but at least this stand is keeping the flys off the meat.
Must be a blue light special.....

New school for San Andreas

San Andreas was in the process of having a new school built.

This is the current school for the children.
Here you can see the new school almost finished...

My Wife's Guatemala Birthday (July 29th)

We were able to give Liz a great birthday while we were in Guatemala. The day started with the traditional firecrackers set off outside under her bedroom window (in the early morning - Sean loves this tradition.)

My beautiful Wife. What you don't see is just how beautiful she is on the inside. To know her is to truly love her......

After awaking from the massive amounts of fireworks and walking out of our room, Liz saw over 200 balloons and a life size pinata. The house was decorated while she slept....
Liz then walked onto the patio where Sean and Renee had already been to the street market and bought flowers from the coast. Renee who doesn't speak English, found the time the day before to make this banner for Liz. Renee found help with writing English from a cousin who was visiting.
Dona Roli had contributed roses from her garden for Liz as well.

Liz, the queen for the day was presented with the torch. The torch is a plant that grows on the coast. Renee and Sean bought this from the street vendors earlier that morning.
Liz holding the amazing plant / flower / ?.
Liz then lead the way to cliff jumping. What a dare devil she is,
30 (?) years old and fearless.
She is ready for the big jump.
Sean became addicted to cliff jumping.

Earlier that week Liz saw this painting in a restaurant. We surprised her by buying it for her without her knowing it. Here is Mackenzie giving her the present.Liz, Meet Chicky.
Can't have a birthday without a pinata. GO LIZ!!!

The Birthday ended with a great meal and spending time with our new friends at the local hotel restaurant.
Our Birthday group that made the birthday soooo very special. Thank you for all the help and for letting Liz know just how special she really is.

Our Fun Morning of Swimming

This is Our Great friend Rene leading us to a special location on lake Atitlan. This lake is considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. It is a mile high, surrounded by volcanoes and tropical forests.

Hiking the road to the lake.

Me with my new friend Rene. (Notice that he is carrying Liz's back pack, what a humble and nice man.) Rene spent so much time with us every day, he became a part of the family. Thank you Renee for being such a great friend.

What did we find along the way, puppies.

Sean, show off, can't you jump a little higher ?
Watch Out below.

Rene thinking those Americans are just NUTS.

Mom found a great place to watch and relax.

Don't get my hair wet!!!!

The Beauty Queen
Just having fun.
She finally jumped in with Dad....
All that swimming and no Amoebas, someone was looking out for us, wonder who???????

What is on the outside isn't always a reflection of the inside

What appears to be a shack -
Is a beautiful palace on the interior.

Isn't this so true in many different ways

Washing clothes at the lake

Although washing our clothes in a tub was not easy work, we at lease had a tub. here are how many wash their clothes, at the lake.

Siesta Anyone

Almost everyday after lunch I escaped back to our house for an afternoon siesta on the porch. A cool afternoon breeze surrounded with peace and tranquility, this had become my routine.

Thank You Professor Beto and Ruth

This is a picture of our Spanish teacher Professor Beto and his wonderful wife Ruth. Prof. Beto teaches in a high school about 30 miles from San Lucas. He would return home from School in the afternoons and then teach us Spanish in his dining room. What a humble and noble man.....
Ruth is so full of love and although she and Professor don't speak English we were able to develop great relationships with both of them.
The Men

Ruth prepared a traditional dinner for our family as a good-by gift. She called these enchiladas, but were more like what we know as tostadas. VERY GOOD
This is Ruth's specialty, Chile Rellenos. I think SEAN ate 10 of these. I have never had anything that tasted so great, especially topped with her Chile Verde salsa. These melted in your mouth.

Thank you again for your love Professor Beto and Ruth

San Lucas Wildlife

This is the most prevalent wildlife in San Lucas, just kidding. It is surprising that in such a tropical place you don't see much wildlife. I was told that all the wildlife close to the town and villages have been eaten.

A little friend on the trail.

Active Volcanoes

There are still active volcanoes in Guatemala. Here you can see the smoke coming from the Volcano on the right. The volcano is just outside of Guatemala City.

We found a great pizza place that was almost like American pizza. A medium peperoni pizza for 25 quetzales ($3.30 US Dollars)
This is one of the Internet sites that Liz and Sean would frequent. 10 Quetzales per hour ($1.40) for high speed !!!

Human Land Movers

Here we joined a group from Minnesota at an area in Pococ, near the Centro de Mujer (Women's Center). The chore was to clear all of the rocks off the hill and then to move all the dirt as well. The hill needed to be flattened to make a soccer field for the kids to play while the mothers learn skills in the women's center. One new skill to be learned is to can fruit. Currently the women do not can or preserve. The wonderful fruit that they have only has a 15 day shelf life and then must be wasted. Once the canning skill is learned, the families will be able to eat the fruit in jam's and preserves throughout the year.

OK, the rock will not move, what do we do?
Sean decides to loosen the ground under the rock.
How about making a trench?
That is a lot of Boulders.
Now that many of the rocks are down, they will be hammered into smaller rocks to be used for cement. No machines, the only tools are sledge hammers, picks, small hammers and chisels.

Walking along the lake....

We had a great day walking along side of the lake.

Blogging on!

Although we are home, we should be able to get the blog completed and corrected/changed so that you can enjoy our amazing month in the beautiful San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala.

We'll keep blogging, and we hope you'll keep checking in often!

Home Sweet Home!

As the saying goes, "There's no place like home."

Also, though there's the steps of how someone gets home:

• Wake up at 5 am to dress and walk to the mission, returning about 6 to pick up the many bags of luggage we brought for one month! Sadly, too, saying "see you soon" to our new and very dear friend, Rene! (booo hooo hoooo)
• Meet Francisco at the Mission Dining Hall @ 6 am to grab one cup of coffee some bread and jump into his van and ride 2+ hours to Guatemala City on long and winding roads. Thank you, Francisco, for getting us there on time -- our stomachs will never be the same (smile)!
• Airport, the typical drag around the overstuffed luggage full of Guatemalan goodies, check in luggage, wait for plane, visit with Reggie one last time before flying to the USA! (fly a little over 3 hours)
• Houston, Texas, re-entry into the USA enjoying the Customs and Immigration, and AT LEAST the 1,000th security walk-thru (aaargh). A layover long enough to enjoy an ice cold beer and an American dinner at a sports bar in Texas. Yep, also a little more shopping just to overload our carry-on luggage!?!
• Leave Houston at 9:10 pm Houston time and arrive in Sacramento a short 4+ hours' flight later (but 11:15 Sacramento time = 1:15 Houston time = 12:15 San Lucas Time)! Thankfully Jeneah, our oldest daughter, was there to meet us in our truck so we could drive the 20 minutes to my mom's (Granny Kathy) to sleep for the night. (what time did we get to sleep? Who knows!)
• Saturday morning, wake up early to get home to see Mac's two cats, Oreo and Mike, and Sean's dog, Titan, and our house. Even though it's 6:30 am and not typically the time of day to eat TACOS, we grab the opportunity to eat Granny's famous tacos before rushing home to Redding. (can't pass up Granny's great tacos!)
• Safe arrival at our home in Redding, CA around 11:30 am.

Yep, I understand the saying, "There's no place like home."

But at the same time...I do so very much miss San Lucas Toliman!

HIKING VOLCANOS

The taxi ride to begin the hike...typical taxi here in Guatemala!

the hikers heading up the trail

Left side: Chris, Emily, Patricia

Right Side: Sean, Jake, Rebecca

GORGEOUS LAKE ATITLÁN

Look what the hikers found at the top of the mountain...

hieroglyphics

for more on the Mayan Guatemalan hieroglypics, click below

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_hieroglyphics

On top of the world...well on top of the mountain!

Sean, Emily, Jake (Minnesota seminarian)

The hiking crew!

Emily on top of the mountain. WHAT A VIEW!

Sean Kearns still smiling after the climb

What a view!

Sean Kearns

Sean on top of the village.

LAKE ATITLÁN IN GUATEMALA IS SOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!

Sean Kearns master of the mountain!

Sean pondering while taking in the gorgeous country??

BENJAMIN VISITS US IN SAN LUCAS!!

Dwite and Judith Brown also sponsored, Benjamin during his seminarian years. Through Giovanni who is in his pastoral year at the parish in San Lucas, Benjamin was able to know that we were here inquiring for Dwite and Judith about Benjamin.

Giovanni (left), Pat (middle), Benjamin (right) at Hotel Tolimán for a going away dinner for Emily (volunteer from Kentucky) and we made it a reunion dinner for us and Benjamin, too!

Clockwise from left front:

Giovanni, Benjamin, Mackenzie Kearns, Sean Kearns, Emily, Liz Kearns

Giovanni, Pat, and Benjamin (looks like Benjamin is enjoying dessert!)

Chichicastenaga

We traveled to the village of ¨Chi Chi¨ (Chichicastenaga) for shopping. Chi Chi has a very old church that we visited again this year. Sean LOVES the incense at this church, and boy, oh boy, do they ever use incesnse here!! It does smell great.

MACKENZIE IN SAN LUCAS

Mac and Ryan playing the piano together at the mission on the day Ryan´s group had to leave.

Mac hanging out on our new hammock that Pat hung up on our porch.

The hammock gets used A LOT!

Mac and Happy sitting on top of the world, well on top of the bleachers at CFCA while Sean was playing soccer

Patricia´s teachers, same place, same time...ONLY IN GOD!

Have you ever bumped into someone you know in a far away place?? How about being from North Carolina and bumping into two of your teachers in San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala.

Our housemate Rebecca, had a friend from college in North Carolina come out for part of her stay here in San Lucas. Her friend, Patricia, happened to ¨bump¨ into two of her high school teachers...Not just any two teachers either; these teachers, Chris and Rachel are walking from North Carolina to Peru --

YEP YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY -- WALKING FROM NORTH CAROLINA TO PERU.

Read their story here, and please keep Chris and Rachel in your prayers!

http://www.ourwalkoffaith.blogspot.com/

Meeting Doña, our homeowner

Rene took us to Doña´s other home to meet her and her husband. What a beautiful flower garden she has!

Pat, Sean, Doña, Mackenzie, Rene, Liz

Don y Doña talking to Liz

RENE, A GREAT FRIEND!

Rene is so good to us & always smiling!!

Mac is Rene´s FAVORITE, of course!

Mac and Rene playing on the patio.

Rene trying to understand Liz´s Spanish!!

This is what Rene looks like when Liz uses the wrong word!!

Rene pondering...what did that Gringo mean to say??

Oh, now I get what you MEANT to say!

Rene showing us the gorgeous flowers -- he loves gardening!

CANDLELIGHT PIZZA DINNER & CARDS, TOO

Our family decided to go out for pizza at the new ¨Pizza Utz¨close to our castle. Utz is in the native language Cakchiquel and it means GOOD.

We´ve entered the beginning of the rainy season here in San Lucas Toliman. I actually really enjoy this time of year; however, I´ve never seen so much rain come down at once -- talk about raining cats & dogs!

As you know, in storms, you can LOSE POWER. Well while our pizza was cooking, the power decided to go off for a short time, then on for about 2 minutes, (during this time, the owners of the pizza place brought candles to our table...just in case!) Then the lights went off again for a short time, then on, then off, then on, and then when it went off again, our pizza was being placed on our table -- good thing, the power was out until the middle of the night sometime!!!

Our family enjoying our candlelight pizza dinner!

And NOTHING will stop Sean from playing cards, yes, he even plays by candlelight!

INSIDE OF A CORNSTALK HOME IN SAN LUCAS TOLIMAN

A volunteer at the mission offered to take us to visit a family he and his nephew sponsor through CFCA. He said that we´d see the inside of a local home that has no updates. WOW...was he ever right!

Here´s family with the sponsor/volunteer, Father Bodine, Liz, and Sean. The family has 10 children, two have moved out, and the youngest is strapped on the mother´s back.

The outside of the home, cornstalks and tin.

The home still uses an open fire right inside the home. Lotsa smoke! Amazing.

This corner is their kitchen.

The kitchen again.

And their pet rabbit.

Sorry Father, I didn´t mean to blind you - I actually didn´t see you cuz it was so dark outside.

FAMILIAR FACES & SOCCER FOR SEAN!

Last year our Padre Avram came out here with a youth group from Minnesota. Steve Grass and his wife Annie lead the group. We were thrilled to know that during our month here this year, Steve´s group would be here, too. The group brought Father Daniel Bodine with them this year.

Sean was looking forward to SOCCER, of course!

GO SEAN!!!

San Lucas locals against Steve´s Minnesota team.

GO SEAN!! NO FEAR!!!

LOCAL SCHOOL FIESTA

Chris, long-term volunteer, English teacher

with his students watching the awesome traditional dancing.

Good thing we love incense!

VOLUNTEER MACKENZIE!

MACKENZIE´S IN THE KITCHEN WITH CHONA!
What a great day and, of course, the best food ever!

Yep, Mackenzie with a KNIFE!

Mackenzie & Rebecca chopping away!!

MONDAY´S EARTHQUAKE IN GUATEMALA

EARTHQUAKE

Just in case the media caught the story of an earthquake in Guatemala, I just wanted to make sure to let you all know
WE ARE ALL FINE.

We did feel the earthquake, but it wasn´t big and wasn´t long.
Of course, Liz was a little cautious for the rest of the day (what do you expect???)

Here´s the info I found online and a link to it just in case you´re interested:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007fdcf.php


Earthquake Details
Magnitude
5.5
Date-Time
Monday, July 23, 2007 at 22:30:10 (UTC)= Coordinated Universal Time
Monday, July 23, 2007 at 4:30:10 PM = local time at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location
14.417°N, 91.021°W
Depth
130.3 km (81.0 miles)
Region
GUATEMALA
Distances
60 km (35 miles) WSW of GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala70 km (45 miles) SE of Quezaltenango, Guatemala140 km (85 miles) SSW of Coban, Guatemala1035 km (640 miles) ESE of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico
Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 5.2 km (3.2 miles); depth +/- 10.9 km (6.8 miles)
Parameters
Nst=234, Nph=234, Dmin=406.1 km, Rmss=1 sec, Gp= 79°,M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source
USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID

us2007fdcf
This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Report shaking and damage at your location. You can also view a map displaying accumulated data from your report and others.
Earthquake Summary

U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information for Seismology, Denver

KIDS, KIDS, AND MORE KIDS

VOLUNTEERS BECOME WONDERFUL FRIENDS!

WHAT GREAT FRIENDS

WE´VE MET ON THIS MISSION TRIP

Rebecca, one of our housemates...great new friend!

Sarah, sister of Rebecca, and also part-time housemate.

Sarah traveled to another town to do immersion Spanish!

Emily from Kentucky. Another great new friend.

Steffani - we miss you!

I think Rebecca and Emily deserve awards for hanging out with us old folks!!! ;-)

KIDS LOVE ICE CREAM!!!

Peter, Sean, and sad Jordan!

Happy Peter, the ice cream is practically bigger than him!

Too beautiful not to photograph!!!

FUEGOS ARTIFICIALES = FIREWORKS

SEAN KEARNS LOVES FUEGOS ARTIFICIALES

Y BOMBAS EN SAN LUCAS!!!!

Fuegos artificiales are fireworks. Bombas are what I would call M-80+++++++ or maybe a stick of dynamite. Either way, Sean is THRILLED he can buy these crazy things in San Lucas, and mom? Well, I pray a lot while we are here!!!

LET´S JUST CALL THEM THE ¨BOMB SQUAD¨

Peter, Sean, and Jordan

Don´t let them fool you...they are guilty!!!!!

SPONSORSHIP THROUGH CFCA

CFCA´s headquarters are here in San Lucas Toliman. Since we were able to connect in person today with Ricardo, who is sponsored by Judith & Dwite Brown, I thought I would post this information about this amazing organization!

CFCA
http://www.cfcausa.org/wherewework/cp_guatemala.jsp

Check this out. We´ve been able to witness first-hand the difference a sponsorship can make in one person´s life.

RICARDO´S ICON FROM JUDITH

Judith Brown, Iconographer, and mother of Padre Avram, made this beautiful icon for a special seminarian she and Dwite sponsor, Ricardo.

Ricardo @ Hotel Toliman in San Lucas Toliman

The icon is St. John Vianney, Cure de Ars, patron saint of priests.

Sean, Ricardo, and Mackenize

Tuesday, July 17th, we were so blessed to be able to present this amazing icon in person to Ricardo!!!

Last year when we were here in San Lucas with Judith, she was able to meet Ricardo and his parents. Ricardo is one of the seminarians that the Brown´s sponsor through CFCA.

Over the last year, Judith has been creating this masterpiece icon for Ricardo. Since we were coming here again, she asked for us to deliver it to Ricardo. However, we didn´t have contact information for him...only his name! I have to admit, I was very sceptical that we would be able to find Ricardo, let alone see him.

First quest to find Ricardo:
Our Spanish instructor, Beto, is working in Solola this week, and that is where we thought Ricardo would be studying in Seminary.

Accidental quest to find Ricardo:
Today, we saw Deacon Luis, at breakfast at the mission. Deacon Luis had given our group a tour of San Pedro and the parish there last year. He remembered us when I mentioned ¨Padre Avram¨-- amazing, heh?? :-) After attempting to chat with Deacon Luis in Spanish, I somehow thought to ask him if he knew Ricardo. Deacon Luis said that Giovanni (the seminarian here that we´ve seen around a lot), knows Ricardo and has his phone number. Great! Nothing was set up, other than I thought we would then later ask Giovanni for the number or something like that. Within 10 minutes, Deacon Luis came up to our table and said that Ricardo would travel to the mission to see us and receive the gift from Padre Avram´s mother at 11 am (it was 9 am). WOW. Amazing!


At 11 am (we were running on Guatemalan time and arrived a little late), the mission was closed due to a reunion of priests. We found one person in the church, Ricardo, and thankfully he looked just like I remembered him. We were able to grab lunch at Hotel Toliman and attempt to speak Spanish with Ricardo, who doesn´t speak English (but I think he understands more than he thinks!). I was so happy to be at Hotel Toliman because I just heard yesterday that they have CAPPUCCINOS Well, Ricardo happens to love Cappuccinos too!!! (I knew I liked him!!) I wasn´t surprised to hear that he also likes beer (just like Pat & Padre!)

Ricardo is now in his pastoral year at a parish. He is such a wonderful soon-to-be priest! What a gift from God that we were able to spend a couple hours with him!

Oh, also some other great news, Deacon Luis, currently a Transitional Deacon, has been told that he will receive ordination in August or September! Great!!!

MARIMBA GUATEMALA´S NATIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

We were able to attend San Lucas´ is annual marimba festival.


The marimba is Guatemala's national musical instrument, and marimba groups from various parts of the country will be converging on San Lucas for the festival. The marimba is somewhat like a wooden xylophone, usually played by three or four players simultaneously. Normally two marimbas, a double bass, and drums provide the basic equipment for a marimba group. As in any musical group, marimba players have to work as a team, and it's really neat to see the students playing together on the marimba, bass and rhythm combining very effectively with those playing the melody.

A sign of the times perhaps, that although the marimba is officially a 'patriotic symbol', and Guatemala's national instrument, it is hard to find someone to teach marimba: and many young people prefer "rap" and variants of US popular music. The festival is at least a positive reminder of Guatemalan culture, and a very enjoyable afternoon. (Photos of last year's marimba festival are on this website: www.sltscholars.org/marimbafestival01.htm )

(I borrowed this blurb from the email sent from SLT Scholars, Br. Dennis)

BLOGGING HELPED SOMEONE!

A new group arrived at this wonderful mission of San Lucas Toliman. One of the volunteers said, ¨Hey you guys have a blog on San Lucas, right?¨ We were a little surprised, but of course, said ¨Yes¨ She said that the blog really helped calm some of the anxiety about coming to the mission.

If you go to one of the mission´s websites, you can see our family info there along with our family San Lucas blogspot

www.sanlucasmission.com and from there click on the link to ¨mission life¨and you´ll find us and others, too.

Although we are having a total blast keeping friends and family current on our activities here in Guatemala, it was so nice to hear that the blog actually helped someone!

We´ll keep posting to keep our family & friends up-to-date on our family Guatemala mission experience.

DAILY MASS SCHOOL CHILDREN

MISSION SCHOOL CHILDREN ATTEND DAILY MASS


The church is PACKED with the school children on Wednesdays and Fridays. The children sing so beautifully, too. I love to listen to the children sing the songs that are so familiar to them from Holy Mass. If you´d like to order a CD of theirs go to
http://www.liberacion-cd.com/
I think it´s pretty awesome!

Such awesome reverence in these beautiful children!

Father Greg sits in the pews while the children read. He loves being with the children and the children definitely love being around him! Father Greg is truly a gift from God!

Did I mention the children love being with Father Greg?? This is the PEACE rush of the children up to hug Father Greg!

And this is after the rush, the children sit nicely again!

TRAVELERS SICKNESS??

Well, we had our first official visit to the San Lucas Toliman Medical Clinic-Hospital.

One week ago Mackenzie came down with a fever and a sick stomach! We got to ride in the back of a mission truck to the clinic. Thankfully, Chris was going to the clinic as well -- not thankfully that he was sick, but that he´s fluent & could translate for Mom & Mac!! Let´s just say it was AN EXPERIENCE! She was much better in about 24/48 hours.

And I think so that Mackenzie didn´t feel all alone, Sean decided to spike a fever, too. He ended up pretty sick. Although the clinic was closed in the evening when we realized he wasn´t himself, there were the mission volunteer doctors, and one was able to get him on Cipro within a couple hours. He´s doing great now. He took one day off work and got on the Internet to catch up with all his friends that he misses TERRIBLY.

Thankfully, it doesn´t appear that either child ended up with the amoebas. Thankfully, too, we came here with the attitude that most likely we would all end up sick at one point or another.

LAUNDRY THE SAN LUCAS WAY...

Laundry in San Lucas Toliman turns out to be a great homeschooling day for all!

As you can see here, Mackenzie was very, very EXCITED when she realized that the small area she´s pointing to was HER WASHING MACHINE!! A rough rock area to hand scrub our clothes... Yep, homeschooling home economics on the way!!!!

Our washing tub consists of a center area, pictured above, that holds the CLEAN water. Each side has the scrubbing tub that Mackenzie was so thrilled about!

To wash the clothes, one important factor is to keep the clean water CLEAN...so you use a bowl to scoop the clean water into your washing area.

Here´s Mackenzie scrubbing away! I wonder if my children will ever complain about putting clothes into the washing machine or dryer at home??

Yep, as you probably guessed, this is the clothes dryer! The kids were really shocked at the ¨softness¨of the clothes after drying the San Lucas way!!! (smile)

Okay, so from now on, we´ll be doing laundry every other day instead of waiting about 5 days!!!

Mac and Mom having a great GIRL CHAT TIME. We had so much fun talking about everything, some laundry teaching, of course. But most of all, I realized that we had such a great time being together, being forced to stand side by side and make the very hard work that we were doing FUN, and if we were doing laundry at home, the couple minutes of sorting and throwing the clothes into the automatic machine, well we wouldn´t have had all those fun conversations!!!! Although doing laundry this way is very hard, we had a great time! Maybe we´ll make some muscles -- these women in San Lucas Toliman ARE STRONG!!



Sean and Dad show up. Sean wanted to learn, too, (great homeschooling kid he is!!). So while learning, of course, he ends up with two teachers!! smile. He did a great job. And since he´s so good at it, I´m thinking he definitely needs to take over doing his own filthy socks while we are here!!! I can´t believe how WHITE the locals´whites are.


Pat doing some laundry too. He enjoyed himself, too!!!

WOW...I think we have TOO MANY clothes!!!

HIKING A VOLCANO!

Pat & Sean hiked up a volcano with some of the other missionaries.

Stephanie, Chris, Rebecca, and Sean... Must be an awesome photo op???

Let´s see what they´re taking a photo of...

BEAUTIFUL!!! LAKE ATITLAN

View of San Lucas from the top!



At the top of their climb, they found HUGE CORN CROPS. Sean showing how tall the corn really is.

SAN LUCAS PEOPLE

Wood for cooking

{click on this picture to make it larger to really see this amazing woman}

San Lucas women need wood for cooking & they must gather wood every day. Boys will also walk about 1 hour to get wood, then cut the wood, then carry the wood back to their mother on their back (men carry on their backs, and the women on their heads). These women are STRONG!

Americans shouldn´t try this at home! :-)

A beautiful face!

Children are always smiling & love to get their picture taken and see themselves instantly!

ROWING COMPETITION ON LAKE ATITLAN

Pat is always up for a new adventure!!! And if you can believe this -- Pat is the talkative one this trip! He´s met all kinds of people that I haven´t...hard to believe, I know (but true!)

Pat talking to one of the kid competitors from another area, about 4 hours away, I think. Great kid -- he played basketball with Sean and a bunch of other kids! He came in 2nd in his race!

Everyone gathers for the competitions!

A jet ski on Lake Atitlan???

MAC & HAPPY - MAC & DAD

Mackenzie and Happy #2 in San Lucas (don´t ask why Happy #1 didn´t come back to San Lucas for his 2nd visit!!!)

Two happy campers...Mac & Dad at Lake Atitlan

Great missionary kids!!!

View from Bell Tower

From the bell tower, this is the entry (or exit as this shows) from the front of the church, and Main Street crosses just about in the middle of the picture where the people are. If you turn left on Main Street (not sure that´s what it´s called) and walk about 656 of my steps, you will be in front of our Castle!

Taxi anyone? Here´s how we get around in San Lucas to job sites, etc., everyone loads in the back of a truck and hangs on! It´s fun!!

MACKENZIE LOVES THE CHURCH BELL TOWER

There´s Mac climbing to ¨HER SPOT¨

SAN LUCAS MISSION
Dining Hall

Meals are set out here & we eat buffet style...YUMMY FOOD!

These tables are made for eating...

unless you ask Sean -- He says they´re made for playin´cards!

MONDAY UPDATE...

Great night´s sleep again last night -- living in THE CASTLE seems to agree with us/me especially!

Rushed off and I made it to morning Mass (was just a ´little´late) -- strange, I haven´t figured this one out yet... Holy Mass is @ 8 a.m., and breakfast for the volunteers is @ 8 a.m... so I was, of course, late for breakfast. No biggie, the oatmeal was waiting for me!

Seems like we have a ton of groups here. (1) There is our family of 4. (2) Rebecca, who is alone here in our Castle with us, while her sister & two adults from their church went to another town for immersion Spanish. (3) There´s another family of 4 from, I forgot where. It´s great they have two boys a little younger than Sean & Mac, respectively. (4) We have had a few young men and women that are here on their own for varying amounts of time, but mostly about 1 month (Chris, Stephanie, Grant). (5) We have a medical school group of about 10ish. (6) Then there´s a youth group from, oh gosh, I forgot where they´re from, too. SORRY. They have about 14 youth & one of the leaders is Adrian, a nice young man (and cool cuz he´s wearing aLife teen t-shirt from Steubenville!)

This morning Mac, Rebecca, and I volunteered in the kitchen with Chona (sounds like a song!), first we got to do the important task of drying dishes -- SERIOUSLY!! Here two of the most important steps are bleaching the dishes (major bleach-water) and then making sure the dishes are completely, and I mean completely dried. It´s even best if they are air dried, which is how the volunteer dishes get done...but we were drying the cooks´pots & pans. Then we got to work with vegetables & string beans. Amazing to look at what we saw in the kitchen and then see the incredible meal that was given to us...WOW. Sean said the lunch was his favorite meal here so far this time!

OH ABOUT THE WATER-AMOEBAS -- the air drying keeps us from getting sick. Someone out there asked about washing our clothes in the water...we´re okay with the water as long as it doesn´t get into our digestive system...so if we don´t eat our wet clothing, we may be okay. Seriously though, pray none of us get sick!

OH THEN THE COOLEST THING...CHONA INVITED MACKENZIE TO GO OUT IN THE MARKET-VILLAGE TO SHOP FOR FRUITS & VEGETABLES WITH HER! Amazingly, Mackenzie is wearing her San Lucas clothing that Chona picked out for her last year when we were here. It was so great of Chona to invite Mac to go with her & Rebecca went along too. Since they were cutting it close to lunch, they even took a TUK TUK back to the Parish! Fun. Chona keeps bragging to Father Greg what a great helper Mackenzie is now & was last year. I´m dreading the tears of Chona this year -- or actually the fight to take Mac home with me!!!

This morning the guys headed off with Chris and Stephanie to the local school to teach English to the little kids. Amazing here, the native Mayan language is Cakchiquel, in this village. When the little children begin their education, they are taught in SPANISH. Imagine if they tried that in the US...teaching our children in a totally foreign language -- parents would flip! smile. Pat & Sean really enjoyed the time with the children. Hopefully there will be room in the vehicle when they head up the mountain to teach again in another small village so that Mac & Mom can experience that!

The plan for the guys for the afternoon was to head off to paint the inside of the Women´s Center. Plan? Like God says to Evan in Ëvan Almighty¨¨YOUR PLAN, HA HA?¨ Guess it wasn´t God´s plan for them to paint this afternoon cuz they ran out of paint earlier this morning. Now they´re headed off to the reforestation project along with Mac going with them this time.

Cards??? Yep, Sean remains the craziest card addict I know, with a priest running in a tight 2nd. Sean´s now even worse because he´s learned the game of SPOONS...which is FAST and CRAZY RADICAL! Just what we need in a mission where there are free sodas (somehow he keeps forgetting my 1 or max 2 per day) hmmm.. The cards are great because you end up meeting a bunch of other volunteers!

We had a HUGE CLOUD OVERTAKE THE VILLAGE YESTERDAY...It didn´t quite rain, nor sprinkle. It was just a huge mist that had the village running in HIGH SPEED. It hasn´t rained here for over 3 weeks, so I think when it does, IT WILL POUR!! I´ve never seen rain like I experienced here last year. Seriously, looking out thru the rain, I couldn´t see a thing! Sean loved the rain cuz that meant CARDS. Pat didn´t like the rain cuz that meant NO WORK.

A question to ponder...
Are you a Martha or a Mary?

RACING THE INTERNET TIME CLOCK (the time clock won!)

Sunday afternoon.



I have only 4 minutes left for this quick note. Sorry again about the changes in the blog sites. Hopefully everyone finds the new one (which is actually the old one...who do I sound like?) I don´t have time to email it out again for the change.



Great Holy Mass today w Padre Gregorio. Sean & Pat hiked up the mountain & us girls, well, we hate to admit it, but we did pedicures back in our room. Then I worked on my Spanish (yes, I´m starting to PANIC) and Mackenzie was taught amazing soccer tricks by Rene our house grounds keeper. He´s awesome!



Mac & Mom will be working in the kitchen with Chona tomorrow. Chona just loved Mac last year and visa versa. It was great Chona totally recognized Mac!



Dad & Sean will be going to a village where a volunteer, Chris, teaches English to the villagers. Awesome!



Will write more when I get a chance to escape to the internet cafe!!!



PEACE & BLESSINGS TO ALL OF YOU. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS & COULD YOU ALL PLEASE ADD ONE ¨SPECIAL INTENTION¨FOR A FRIEND´S FRIEND THAT REALLY NEEDS PRAYER??

Friday´s events

Arrived in San Lucas Toliman village just before lunch @ the mission. Francisco drove us straight to our home (for the next month!) and boy were we ever surprised. Compared to last year, we are truly in the Hyatt or something like that. Pat and I have a master bdrm/bathroom set up, although the kids will use our bathroom too. The kids each have a DOUBLE BED, which Sean is thrilled about (sad story about his bed at home, so he´s happier with his bed in San Lucas Toliman!). We have a kitchen area, a large dining area, a living room area with a fireplace, and, of course, a gorgeous garden & flower area. The home owner is Rene (male) and from what I can understand (which isn´t much at all, which is why we´re here -- to learn Espanol!), Rene´s family owns the home. His ¨room¨is outside of our main home, and it is about as small as 1/2 of regular child´s bedroom back in the US!

Our CASTLE!

Our fireplace and sunken living room

Beautiful Mackenzie sitting on HER OWN BED!

Marguerito (sp?) was at our home to greet us and get us all set up. It´s awesome he takes care of passports, exchanges money while you are here (which is great not traveling with a bunch of cash all the time -- you can write checks to the mission while you are here!) Marguerito is another example of a loving, peaceful, & hardworking man. So joyful while he´s working.. a great example to all of us. Once at the mission, we saw my dear Tono (sp?), who was a friend of Fr. Avram´s while Padre & Elijah lived here for about 9 months (which was about 9 years ago now!). Tono is so sweet, always smiling, and always there to help with anything we need!! Yes, I do love it that he speaks English pretty darn great, too! After lunch the boys headed out to the town center-park that has basketball courts...the girls? Of course we headed over to the internet cafe!!!


Afterwards we hit the NEW ICE CREAM PARLOR HERE ON THE MAIN STREET (yep, Padre Avram, it´s not gelato, but it´s wonderful ice cream right on our way to & from the parish!!).

YUMMY ICE CREAM!

Then we went and MOVED INTO OUR NEW HOME, unpacked & got comfortable. Rene gave me a tour of the place, and outside & around the back he showed me the washing tub that I can do our laundry in. Sound crazy??? Me washing clothes by hand???? Well, just so you know, I did do laundry once by hand on my recent pilgrimage, in Rome...but even then it was in a sink with ¨clean¨water. This is an outside tub with not the cleanest water, but I am actually looking forward to the experience that Mackenzie and I will have in learning to really wash clothes!! I know if Judith were here with us, she would be loving this too!!! I´ll try taking some pictures. I haven´t figured out yet, if I can add any pictures from my camera to the internet cafe computers or not. Hopefully! (guess I answered my own question, a few days later I realized the internet cafe will burn the photos to cd for basically 1.25 american!


Rene then took us to meet our Spanish teacher, Beto and his wife Rut (like Ruth without the th sound on the end). OH MY GOODNESS...THEY ARE THE SWEETEST PEOPLE. Padre, this is hilarious. They did look a little confused or surprised when Rene announced that he had Beto´s Spanish students from America there at the front gate. Beto came out, and once we said, ¨Padre Avram¨everything changed!!!! NOW THIS IS EVEN MORE HILARIOUS. Once inside, he introduces us to Rut. Gives us all chairs. Starts speaking to us - IN ESPANOL ONLY!! yikes.... oh me oh my oh...what have I gotten myself into?? HERE´S THE HILARIOUS PART. Their phone rings. Rut answers it. It´s one of their daughters. She hangs up and says ¨Padre Avram emailed my daughter to say you would be in San Lucas TODAY.¨ ISN´T THAT HILARIOUS!!! I remember that you emailed them the other night from our house so that they could contact the parish...God has an amazing sense of humor, heh??? Well, these two people could not be any nicer, seriously. What gracious, loving, giving people. They have 2 daughters and 1 son, that all live in the city (I think), so they´ve been empty nesters for about 9 years. You could tell that they just loved Padre Avram & Elijah. Looks like our Spanish load will be a little lighter than we expected, but we´ll just go with the flow! It´s obvious we didn´t prepare for the last year. However, Beto says that when we are done with our 4 weeks, we will be speaking pretty well. I´M SO EXCITED. I can´t wait to be able to speak with the villagers here...well, the villagers that speak Spanish in addition to their native language. Had a light dinner (typical for their lifestyle here, and something I´m really hoping to implement once we go home...we really don´t need that much ¨fuel¨just to get us to bedtime!!! smile) After dinner, Sean headed back off to the basketball courts with his new friends, Jordan, his younger brother, and their Dad, Doug. Mac & Mom hung out to play cards with Emily, our new friend that is staying in our same house with us...only for a couple days though. Quite a few games of Bicycle...then Sean returned & we had to play Golf, too. Padre, we´re all still arguing about the rules of Golf since we remembered it differently from San Lucas last year and how we´ve been playing it at home...so can you please post or email the real rules?? SMILE.Off to bed, and boy oh boy was our bed comfortable! I slept like a baby!!!Well the boys just got back to the cafe so I´d better email off this blogspot so that you can all check it daily or every other day while we are here. The emailing process is very slow and often jams when I try sending emails to a bunch of people at once...so I figured I´d be better off by creating a blog.

ARRIVAL IN SAN LUCAS TOLIMAN, GUATEMALA!!!

FINALLY! WE ARE IN BEAUTIFUL SAN LUCAS TOLIMAN, GUATEMALA!!! After a year of waiting, planning, and of course, praying, we are on our family mission trip.We arrived in Guatemala City on Friday, July 6th. Francisco, a familiar driver from the mission, picked us up and drove a couple blocks to a great overnight hotel/room. Typical exhaustion from airports, flying, stress of -- will our luggage be there?? will our plane get there on time?? will there be a driver there to pick us up in a foreign country??? Well those of you that know us well, would be completely surprised to know that I wasn´t worried at all...yep, me Liz...maybe I´m sick??? BIG GRIN. Let´s just say that Pat was relieved when everything worked out perfectly! I think the major stress is always on him while traveling -- especially wanting to make sure he does everything possible to get his family into a the country safe & sound & not to let anything happen to us! So, I wasn´t surprised at all when he let out a sigh of relief!! Guatemala City is not a place we want to stay, so we´re always happy it´s just a few hours of sleep while there and then either off for the 2+ hour drive to San Lucas or onto a plane back to the good ole USA.

Mission Trip 2007

Hello friends & family ~

Our family (Pat, Liz, Sean, & Mackenzie) is once again making a missionary pilgrimage to the small town and villages of San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala. We will be working along side the Mayan people in the following areas:

* Coffee plantations
* Water projects
* Reforestation projects
* Clinic construction / Health Care
* Women’s Center construction
* Village School (beautiful children!)
* Many other projects (too many to list)

We plan to spend one full month (July – August) immersed in the culture, living alongside the local people, & providing works of charity (although the locals might think they are the charitable ones having to work with us); however, as always, our presence will be Christ-centered, spreading the faith through our relationships.

The people, not unlike so many in 3rd world countries, are so very needy, so much more needy than most of us can ever imagine!!

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"2006 Mission Trip"

Guatemala Mission Trip July 2006

Please find below our pictures and comments related to our Family Guatemala Mission Trip. This was a life changing trip with such beauty & simplicity, which opened our eyes to so many things. We truly felt God's presence throughout the trip. We will be processing so much of the trip for a long time. The children loved the experience and had an opportunity to see how the majority of the world lives, without much in possessions but with an abundance of happiness, love, compassion, and generosity.

Mackenzie wearing her San Lucas clothes home.

Just arrived at the Sacramento Airport from Guatemala City. A Long day of travel.

A Typical Roadside Store

Pat and Sean Working Hard, Well - Not Too Hard

Cutting rebar at the site of the new lab in the clinic.
Sean Kearns under a banana tree
Pat and Sean hauling dirt from the coffee field to the park.
Sean measuring 15cm lengths in preparation for cutting.
Sean Totally worn out after a hard days work. Not one complaint from him all day. What a great kid....
Preparing the ground to lay down a foundation. Sean joining a group of college kids from Minn., USA.

One of the ongoing projects, the Women's Center.

The building is partially complete. It will be a site for women's vocational / skill training, classes, and much much more. Funds are needed to complete the project. I was told that $10,000 American Dollars will complete the whole project per the Master Plan. Such a project could impact a whole village for many generations. The project includes the women's center, a school, gardens, fruit tree orchard, community clothes washing area, etc...
This is the master plan for the Women's Center. Click on the picture for a larger view.

The women make the most beautiful clothing.

How about 100 Lbs on your head?

Everything is done by hand - hard labor

When you need gravel, you take rocks and break them into gravel...

My Favorite Village "San Andreas"

The Village Church -- dirt floors, canvas walls, and a light run on a generator; however, the place is holy and sacred to them. The ladies cover their heads as they walk in, and the men and children a so very reverent.
Many of us helping a truck with a poor clutch get up a hill. I'm not sure who owned the truck, it was leaving the village as we were arriving, but everyone helps anyone in need, it is the San Lucas way.

Doesn't this picture describe life? We are often given a choice regarding what path we desire to take.
No, I wasn't asking where was a bathroom.
The children loved to run after us as we arrived & left in a truck. They would run and run and run.
The village "well". All the women would line up with their containers.

Walking the streets of San Lucas

A closer look at Paradise

It is said that Guatemala has the best coffee in the world, and many say that San Lucas has the best coffee in Guatemala... The coffee fields are a mile high (5000 feet elevation), the soil is rich volcanic ash, and grown in the shade. The coffee bean is grown slowly allowing a rich flavor. You can order this coffee using the link on the right of the web site "The Best Coffee in the World". Order over the internet, they will send it to you with a bill. Did you get that, they trust that you will send the money after you receive the coffee... Once you have had San Lucas Coffee you won't be able to drink anything else. Just ask my wife! We get the whole bean and grind our own each day. Even with the modest shipping charge, it isn't anymore expensive than other good coffee and this money goes directly to the people of San Lucas.Taking a walk through the coffee fields
Simply Beautiful
Children fishing while mom does laundry on the shore, "Thanks mom."

Bell In Tower of Church in San Pedro, Solala, Guatemala

Faces of Guatemala

Mackenzie Kearns with two beautiful girls!


Liz Kearns with a beautiful child!
The many faces of Guatemala.

My Son the Bodybuilder, Or Not ?

Did Sean pump iron over the summer? Take steroids? Or some kind of mutation?

You can send a Jr. High Guatemala Child to school for only $125 a year

Most children in Guatemala end their education at 6th grade because Jr. High is too expensive for them. Jr. High cost $12.50 per month = (92.5 Quetzales) or $125 per year. While in Guatemala we met Br. Dennis who has been helping children obtain an education in an effort to change their lives, and it is working. Through donations, so many children have been helped. You can help a child go to junior high (7th - 9th Grade) or even to High School and Seminary. My wife stated that she gets her nails done at a cost of $30 per month. She then stated that she would be more than happy to give up the fake nails to allow 2 children the opportunity to get a Jr. High education. Please pray about this issue and if you are able, help change a child's life. We actually met many children who are attending school due to the donations of people just like you. For more information, pictures, and contact info, please see the link to the right "San Lucas Toliman Scholars"

God's peace,

Pat

Thoughts from Liz Kearns

This picture was taken upon our arrival at our "home" which had such a beautiful flower garden just outside our front door & window...


BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS & BEAUTIFUL KIDS!!!

Our family mission trip to Guatemala turned out to be so much more than I ever imagined!! We had a great time experiencing such a beautiful country together as a family -- and sharing that experience with close friends also added to the total enjoyment of the trip!
I especially want to thank all of our friends and family that prayed for our safety, health, and for our experience...we sure felt protected by your prayers! Mom Kearns, as always I know you were praying for me and my health!

We flew into Guatemala City {Pat, Liz, Sean, Mackenzie, and Judith Brown -- Fr. Avram's darling mother!} late on Monday, July 17th, so we didn't see much of Guatemala City {fine with me, though, as I really don't prefer "cities"!} Arriving later that evening to our hotel was the group that we joined in on their trip: Father Avram Brown, from our parish, and the youth group from Minnesota that Fr. Avram was accompanying to San Lucas Toliman. We headed out early on the 18th to San Lucas Toliman, which was about a 2 hour drive -- through such beautiful country, tropical plants & trees everywhere! We were in the mission of San Lucas from the 18th through 26th, and the days were so full of events and the beautiful children and adults of San Lucas.

Father Greg has done such amazing work in helping the Mayan people of San Lucas, and we were blessed to be even a very small part in his work & gifts to the beautiful people! Thank you Father Greg! It is so awesome, too, to see how grateful and respectful the people of San Lucas are to Fr. Greg.

I hope and pray that in sorting out and posting our pictures from the trip, I will be able to gather my thoughts and experiences to share with you all! For now, I will just say that this experience and the faces of the people in San Lucas Toliman touched my heart, deeply! I look forward to sharing the pictures and experiences with you all!

Guatemala - What a beautiful country

This is the town square in the town of San Pedro.
This is the Church in the town Santiago. You are looking at the courtyard. This was the church where Fr. Stanley Rother, a Missionary priest from Oklahoma was martyred: July 28, 1981.
A Local Mayan on a traditional fishing boat on Lake Atitlan.
One of the many Volcanoes that frame Lake Atitlan.
A view of San Lucas Toliman and the mission that we visited. The mission was the starting point for each day as well as where we ate all of our meals.

Our thoughts about Guatemala

Our familiy outside the hotel door in Guatemala City.

Our family sitting on top of a large boat waiting for a ride from Santiago to San Pedro to visit a seminarian/transitional deacon "Luis"

My beautiful daughter Mackenzie lying on the shore of Lake Atitlan and San Lucas Toliman.

The kids and I in front of the Parish Mission at San Lucas. The Mission is over 400 years old and yes, Sean could have burned it down when he shot fire works, fire crackers, and what I think were M-80's onto the roof. Would you believe his partner in crime was none the less, Father Avram. Good thing it was the rainy season.
My beautiful wife and I at the docks by the village. Pretty cute couple I bet you were thinking.....


I'm not sure what my thoughts really were about Guatemala prior to going except for the fact that I felt drawn to go there. What we experienced in Guatemala was much more than I expected. The people were so friendly, inviting and joyful. Even though they were very poor, many with dirt floors, tin roofs and canvas walls, they possessed such joy and happiness. As each day progressed, I realized that the people of Guatemala have something that so many of us in America do not have, they have a sense of peace and tranquility. Most mornings started off with breakfast followed by work. Sean and Pat did manual labor (painting at the Mission School, clearing rocks and hauling dirt in sacks to beautify a park at a new village, cutting rebar at the construction site of a new laboratory at the clinic), Mackenzie and Liz helped package coffee from the mission plantations, helped in the mission school library--covering books and enjoying the school children, and much more. Since it was the rainy season in a tropical environment, many afternoons had serious showers. The rain prevented further work, but that didn't seem to bother the locals, they just go with the flow. It allowed a lot of time for visiting, playing cards, and reflection. There is something about Guatemala time. I don't think anyone really carries a watch. Things begin when they begin. One day while in our house, we were even hit with lightening, yes struck by lightening on our tin roof. What a loud boom that was. Yes, Liz did just about have a heart attack. We experienced so many wonderful things that we are still attempting to process them all. We were changed by our experience, now the difficult part is to keep a balance in our life after experiencing such a wonderful culture and people. I really want to thank everyone who kept us in your prayers, and especially Fr. Michael. We really felt your prayers and protection while we were gone. Everything went so smoothly, or at least when it didn't, we maintained peace and a sense of comfort.

The Beautiful Children

Some local kids that live near the park where Sean and Pat were working.

A small child carrying her sister in the village of San Andreas. This is the new Village for the 160 families that lost their homes during a mud slide last year. It is typical to see young girls tending to their brothers and sisters starting at a very young age. They are so loving and caring toward each other. What we could learn from them...

Liz and Mackenzie with many of the children at the village San Andreas.
A young child with such a beautiful face. She sat in front of me at a mass which was held at an elder's house in another new village. I was able to speak to her in Spanish, what a pure and sweet soul she was.
This was another child I visited with at the Mass in the village. They loved to have their picture taken.
Guatemala has such beautiful, happy, friendly, children.

We are Back - Guatemala 2006

A picture of the Arch Bishop of Oklahoma and Father Avram during the Mass of the feast day of Saint James. The Mass was held at the Mission in Santiago. After Mass there was a huge celebration and procession. They like to use a lot of incense as you can tell by the photo.
Mackenzie playing with a small Mayan child sitting in front of her in Mass. The child loved Mackenzie's stuffed Kitty named HAPPY.
More incense and not one old lady coughing, go figure.
I'm the handsome one on the left, on the right is what's his name, oh yeah, Father Avram.
The door to the Convent at Santiago.
Sitting outside the door to Father Stan Rother's bedroom where he was murdered in 1981.
The courtyard of mission Santiago.
Liz standing in front of the blood stained wall of Father Stanley Rother's room where he was martyred. At Liz's feet you can still see the hole in the floor from the bullets. Father Stanley Rother, born March 27, 1935, grew up in Okarche, Oklahoma, and was ordained a priest in 1963. Five years later, he received the call to serve in the Oklahoma mission in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala. Through the years, Father Rother learned the local Tzutuhil dialect, served the people with devotion, and was deeply loved by the parishioners. Political unrest swept the country in the 1970's and in 1980 four priest were killed in Guatemala. In his Christmas letter of 1980, Father Rother wrote: "The shepard cannot run at the first sign of danger." Nevertheless, as conditions worsened, he came back to Oklahoma. After a short time, despite the danger, he returned to the mission because of his love for the people. On the night of July 28, 1981, three men entered the rectory and shot Father Rother. Father Rother's heart is buried in the church in Guatemala and his body is buried at Holy Trinity Cemetary in Okarche. We now pray the Church will declare him a saint.
A few young girls after Mass in Santiago.

Here we go........

Keep us in you prayers for a Blessed Trip......

Guatemala July17-27

From The Kids

We are really enjoying the summer so far. We leave for our trip to guatemala in less than 2 weeks. See ya....

Guatemala Trip

We are 2 weeks away from our first missionary trip to Guatemala. Liz, The Kids and I will be traveling to San Lucas Toliman, 80 miles west of Guatemala City to volunteer at the Catholic Mission. I have had a pulling of my heart for many years to participate in missionary work and this will be our first taste of such. If all goes well, this will be the beginning of our new adventures. Although we expect to gain a greater understanding of this third-world country, the trip is essentially to assist in the discernment process of a life of service to others as a Catholic Family. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for not only a safe trip but for also clear discernment for what is to be our future.