My return

My return flight was a little more interesting than my flight to Tennessee. I arrived at the airport with plenty of time, Got to my gate early and all was good, and I would be home in time for dinner. After boarding the plane we sat for 10-15 minutes then heard of the problem, the deicer was not working. They worked on it for about 30 minutes then decided we needed to change planes. This plane had something going on also, not sure what but they got it fixed after another 30 or 4o minutes. Needless to say buy the time we got to Houston I had missed my flight. I did however manage to keep all frustration to myself and even had fun. After trying to get me on another flight from Houston for a while but not being able to they put me in a room for the night. It became clear why all this had taken place after I left for the airport the following morning; I had met a guy at the hotel and was able to share the Gospel with him for a while. Lesson learned; God has a plan for everything. Always keep an eye and your heart open for any opportunity.

I got home Wednesday for dinner instead of Tuesday, It is really cool to arrive home after being gone 7 days and get nice hugs from 10 kids and my wife that all actually missed me. Upon my arrival I learned of all the stuff that happened while I was gone. No water for 3 out of the 7 days, no power for a couple of days, and on and on; maybe that is why they missed me. There has been water and power every day since my return until today, no water and the power went out for a while; praise God the power was only off for a short time, still no water.

Once home we got back to work on the ranchita, I went ahead and bought fill and we are almost ready for concrete now. When I say we got back to work I am talking about all us guys in the house, I had plenty of help from my boys and our workers.

Michael, Danny and Pedro all wanted to pitch in.

They all wanted to try all the tools, even our somewhat effective tampers

This is the real tamper, kinda works

I guess I should get a smaller wheelbarrow



OK maybe a smaller shovel to.


All kids like a tractor, even the big ones



It was a great day, well great 1-2 hours anyway a good time was had by all.

Tennessee Trip

I was to leave April 2nd and return April 7th.
Normally when I am going to fly I go to the city the night before, however this time I had a late flight so I left the ranch at 5AM figuring this would give me plenty of time (7hrs). Well All went well the first ¾ of the trip then it happened. One of the biggest accidents I have seen here. A bus and propane truck seemed to want the same lane, along with 7 other cars, needless to say this does not work. I am not sure how long I was in traffic but I got to the airport 30 minutes before departure, I hurry thru security, I know this sounds strange but they kinda rushed me thru. Once I get to the gate I am the last person to board, we head out then sit on the end of the runway for almost 1 1/2 hours. By the time I got to Houston I needed to run for the gate only to find they have changed it to the other side of the terminal, if you know Houston airport you know this is not just a short walk. Anyway I had to change gates 4 times. Ended up getting into Knoxville only about 1 hour late.

Once in Knoxville I had a great time of renewal and excellent fellowship, both much needed. Got to see some people I had not seen in awhile but not long enough to see everyone that wanted to see me and that I wanted to see. 2 or 3 weeks may have been enough time but would be to long for me to be gone. I guess maybe we need to try 2 short trips a year. Leaving the ranch for more than a few days is hard to do with children so I guess once a year will be about all we can do.

Things at the Ranch are really good, we continue to add and more children show up for Sunday school every week. The Ranchita is close to being done so we will have room for all of them and keep them out of the rain, and or sun. All we lack right now is fill and cement, gravel, sand for the floor and some steps, and of course a ramp for wheelchair access.

One day while there we had a great lunch over at Provision Foundation, my self and Woody Woodson from Vine International spent some time discussing all things Guatemala with some close friends of ours. At the meeting, I was able to share our "Top 5" needs for varying projects that we would like to complete at the ranch sometime in the near future. We'd like to share those here and now just to keep all our friends in the loop!

Top 5 Needs for Rayo de Esperanza

1. Water Project - 2 500 Gallon Water Tanks, Water Pump and Filter. This is priority #1, as Mike (and all of us as well) would love to implement a system on site where everyone could be assured that they are drinking clean water! Currently, everyone at the ranch drinks bottled water. Estimated cost for this project is somewhere in the $5,000 range.
2. Septic Field - Estimated cost for this project is also in the $5,000 range.
3. Cattle Yard Fence - New to the property are a variety of animals, including horses, cows, and more. To ensure their safety and protection, a fence needs to be installed. Estimated cost for this project is in the $3,000 range.
4. Sunday School Room Floor - Estimated cost for this project is around $5,000
5. 1 Year School Sponsorships - for all the kids on the property to receive the proper schooling they need, as well as fees for uniforms, shoes, school supplies, and bus fare to and from school.
* Hilda - $800/yr
* Eddy - $600/yr
* Silvia - $500/yr
* Judy, Jayron, Pedro, Esperanza, Lucia, Angelica, Zulydy, and Francesca - $150/yr

We have a new address for donations

We have a new mailing address for anyone that sends donations to our office. Please note, checks are made out to Rayo de Esperanza and mailed to:
Rayo de Esperanza
C/O Provision Foundation
2095 Lakeside Centre Way, suite 101
Knoxville, Tennessee 37922

Some new news

Well it has been a little while again. Here a few things happening here at the Ranch.


Praise God the clinic in Esmeralda will be reopening very soon!


We bought a couple of cows that will soon have little ones; this is the start of supplying some of our own milk, cheese, and beef for the orphanage. Leti also bought one and hers had her baby 2 days ago. I named this one hamburger as it is a male. Praise God for His Guidance, love, grace, mercy, and unwavering love for us. He teaches us something every day here.

The kids are doing well in school and seem to enjoy it. I think they really like the meeting new friends’ part most. Speaking of school, we are putting Hilda through more school; she has decided she wants to be a kindergarten teacher. It is cool as part of her home work is to hold class for some of the little ones around here. Michael, Danny, and one of our workers kids are her class. Michael and our workers son are doing very well she says, but Danny just runs out after about 5 minutes, he is going to be a challenge. We pray that the more we work with him the better he will get. Danny has some speacial problems, his mother was an alcoholic and while pregnant was drunk most of the time. I am afraid it will be a tough road for him, however we are confident our Father will touch him and smooth his way, if not completely heal him.

Below is a wish list copied from the girls’ blog that has joined us for awhile.

Rancho Esperanza Wish List
This post is to inform you all of a "Rancho Esperanza" Wish List that is up on Target.com. Some of you have shown an interest in donating items needed by the orphanage, and making a wish list was the easiest way for us to make aware some of the needs down here. It's not that these items need to be purchased from Target- using Target's "Wish List" application was just the easiest way for Karen and I to "go shopping" and list items publically (we can both be a bit electronically challenged at times).If God has placed it on your heart to donate something to the Rancho Esperanza ministry, we will consider it a HUGE blessing. Even if we receive one thing from the list, it will have been a success. However, other than these material items, we are ALWAYS in need of prayer, and thankfully that is something that every one of us is able to do. I would like to say thank you to each one of you who have been faithfully praying for this ministry. Your prayers are felt and appreciated every single day.Our reason for posting the list at this time is because I am coming back to Knoxville for two weeks at the end of the month for my brother's wedding, and because I do not plan on bringing many things with me for my visit, I will have room in my suitcases to bring back any items with me when I return to Rio Dulce.If you feel led to donate, you can access the Wish List website by going to http://www.target.com/lists/2DPPAY7175KGT and you can e-mail me at kholt3@utk.edu so we can arrange a way to get the things in my suitcase before I head back to Guatemala on March 10th.Like I said, every little bit helps (I've been amazed at how even the simplest things that we use on a daily basis in the US can be impossible to find in Guatemala). Thanks to you all and I hope you have a fantastic week!

You can follow news from Kathryn Ann at Adventures in Guatemala

Off to School

Well lets see, it is January 26th at 5 AM. We are trying to wake all the kids. Today is the first day of school for them after coming to the ranch. They accually get up pretty well after going to bed at 8 PM the night before. They make themselves cereal, get themselves dressed and ready to go by 7 AM. At 7:15 Kata takes off with them to walk them to school, there is a strange silence in the air that has not been heard for a couple of months around here, it is kind of a nice sound (or lack there of) but at the same time it all of a sudden seems empty, like something is missing. It was quiet around here, it seemed wrong, then as I was praying for there day it came to me, I really already missed them being here. I thought when they started school it would be good to have the quite but it just is not right now. Thats Ok because a few hours later it was back to normal with all of them talking at once about there day, teachers and new friends, and of course what is for lunch. After lunch they did there homework without much problem and off to play.

Today is the second day and it was not quite as easy this morning but all is good, it is good to know they are regular kids, the first day wore off and it was not quite as easy this morning but all in all everything went OK. Today they wore work type clothes because there project today is cleaning the school. O this explains the little slower progress getting ready today.

Here is a picture of them as they were leaving yesterday.


School started for Michael and Danny also. Karen and Kata are working with them while the others are at school. I think Danny may be quite a challenge but they seem up for the task.

Be blessed we sure are.

Trip to Tikal

As Karen and I were talking last Monday we decided we should take the kids on a field trip before school starts. Karen thought Tikal would be nice so Tikal it was. We decided to leave at 6 AM so we could spend enough time there to wear the kids out and more than that to let them see all they could. Everything was going well this Tuesday morning; we loaded all 18 of us into the van and were on the road by 6:15, record time. When we reached the halfway point it started raining, we decided to push on as maybe it would clear up. It did stop raining for a while then started up again and rained the rest of the day. When we got there they decided they wanted to go ahead in the rain, Karen and I stayed behind with the young boys and Leti and Oscar took the rest to see the ruins. This lasted about an hour then they were back and ready to go. Poor kids looked like a batch of drowned rats and were a bit cold. We had packed lunch so on our way back we looked for a roof to eat under. Everyone was really hungry so the first place we found was it, it was a bus stop, a really dirty smelly and muddy one at that, so we all wolfed down a sandwich and hit the road for home.
They did not get to see much so we will plan another trip when they get a break from school. We had a great day and everyone slept well soon after we got home.

It was a lot of driving for an hour at the park but worth every minute, The kids just enjoyed getting out, there was no winning or anything. It was just a great day.

Miscalculations

Miscalculations, don’t you hate it when that happens. We put the freezer in the room that I had planed for it and the refrigerator, once it was in it became perfectly clear that I had made a mistake. Sure they would both go in but there was no room to open the doors. Bummer, we decided to put the refrigerator in the room that was designated for the dry storage products. We then went on to move the stove in, incredibly heavy. Once the stove was in I started looking around and got this bright idea, we would knock down a wall and remove one column. Seems pretty weird to do a remodel on a brand new building, but when someone makes an error like this you just need to do what you need to do. I think our Lord was having a bit of a laugh over my foolishness. We started after lunch yesterday the 8th and got done today the 9th. All that is left is the finish repair and we are good to go. It is not exactly as planed but will work out very well. Everything should be done by the end of the day Monday, then the Kitchen should be ready to use. We pray that we will start our feeding program by the end of January. We might be ready sooner but Karen’s brother and his wife are coming down for a week, they arrive in 5 days so we are going to take a few needed days off. Following are a few photos of the work.

Blessed Christmas

We pray that you all had as blessed Christmas as we did. It was wonderful to be able to see Christmas through the eyes of our new children. A group in Christ Community Church in Carmichael, CA raised funds to buy all the children and the children of the employees at Rancho Esperanza a set of clothes each and some toys. They were all thrilled with and very thankful for their presents!!!

In our Bible studies we have been learning about the real purpose of celebrating Christmas and what the birth of Christ has meant to the whole world. And as we go on into the New Year learning how His life, ministry, death, and resurrection have changed our world, we will also discover how He affects us and our lives on a more personal level.

We had a young lady, Kathryn Ann, from Tennessee come to join us on the 16th of December, what a joy and blessing she is. I think that she will be with us for about six months. She is working hard on her Spanish and she plans to go to Spanish school in Antigua for a few weeks in the New Year. In the mean time I’m sure she is learning a lot about children with problems and seeking the Lord’s guidance, wisdom, and patience in order to minister to them effectively. I know we are! The children love her and so do we! We are so thankful to have her here.

Two Saturdays ago as I was standing in the living room with my coffee and Oscar called to me from the front door. As I went to turn around and walk toward the door, Danny decided he would grab my feet without warning. Needless to say I went down. It would not have been so bad but I twisted, trying not to fall on Danny, and ended up hurting my back, left wrist, and what bothers me more than anything is my left shoulder. Everything is getting better except my shoulder; I can barely lift my arm to put on my shirt.

I have ceiling fans and lights to install in the unwed mothers’ house (Casa Aulani), and kitchen appliances to move into the church kitchen. I guess if it does not get better soon Karen will make me go get an x-ray. I keep telling her it will be OK but even I am beginning to wonder. Maybe something is torn so it will just take some time to heal.

Speaking of the church kitchen appliances, what great Christmas presents they are!!! The Scrum Group and their supporters in Tennessee bought and shipped all the industrial kitchen appliances and sinks for the feeding program we will be having here at Rancho Esperanza! There are so many of our neighbors’ children who survive on tortillas and salt. They have red streaks in their hair from malnutrition; they lack energy and defenses to illnesses. It is difficult for them to learn at school and at Sunday school. We are so thankful to the Scrum Group and all their supporters who the Lord used to bring this vision to fruition, of feeding children in our community, not only physically but spiritually, and showing them the love of Jesus Christ. God is so faithful to fulfill the visions that He gives us no matter how impossible or overwhelming they seem to us at the time.

A blessed time of year

We want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas; this is a very special time of year. May we all remember the reason for the season, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray you have a very blessed day; our Lord has blessed us with so much and so many good friends. We pray daily for all of you.
Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support.
May the New Year bring good health, happiness and more blessings than you can count.

Please pray for the children we now have the honor of discipling for Christ in our home. And keep the young ones in prayer who come here to Sunday school every week (and the big ones too). There are always over twenty children!

The church kitchen equipment has arrived, so soon we pray that many more children will come to know the Lord as we begin our feeding program here at the ranch.

May God bless you, have a very merry Christmas and happy New Year

Mike, Karen, Leti, DonOscar, Chivete, Ilda, Oscar, Sylvia, Jayron, Judi, Vilma, Anibal, Rodolfo, Cheo, Zuleidy, Francisca, Angelica, Lucia, Esperanza, Pedro, Danny, and last but not least: Michael Jose’

Children and church

November came and went so fast that I still have problems believing we are in the month of December. The children, Francisca, Zuleidy, Angélica, Lucía, Esperanza, Pedro, Danny, and Michael José are adjusting to one another and to us and to their lives here at Rancho Esperanza. We, too, are adjusting to having seven more gifts from God. There have been some huge blessings as far as emotional and spiritual developmental changes in the children. We believe that these advances are due to the smaller family environment and keeping Christ in the center of our family.

We will not publish the stories of the children. Suffice it to say, they have all suffered greatly. They all came with their own individual gifts and struggles, joys and pain. Only the Lord can repair their wounded hearts. We feel privileged to be their “mother and father”, loving them, showing them the love of Jesus Christ, and helping to equip them for their future.

How awesome is our Lord?!? That was the vision God gave us just a few years ago! Only HE could have brought it to fruition. And HE alone is faithful to provide the way! We would like to take this time to thank all of you again for your support, prayerful and financial, your encouragement, patience and understanding. The orphans’ and widows’ project (Rancho Esperanza) is in a constant state of construction and growth, and so are we.

The children have a good spiritual foundation from being at Fundaniños before coming here. We build on that foundation with Bible studies and regular family prayer times, and of course, Sunday-School. Thanks to Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg and Calvary Chapel Guatemala City we have Sunday Services in the church here at the project!

What a blessing it has been to work with the two churches in order to gather with our families, neighbors, and friends to worship the Lord and study His word!!! We could not have opened the church so soon without CC St. Pete funding CC Guatemala City to send visiting pastors and children’s ministry leaders every Sunday. We are truly thankful!

At present we are putting all of our energy and attention toward the children and our own personal relationships with Jesus Christ, and have had little time for much else. So please forgive the lack of correspondence in the last month or so. It really has been quite a challenge with all the changes. It isn’t by any means a bed of roses when eight children, six grandchildren, one grown “daughter” and her husband, two staff members, Mike and me are all put together at once and stirred. It would be naive to expect instant harmony. On the other hand, it hasn’t been all thorns either. We are becoming a regular family!

All of us at the ranch were so thrilled and grateful to see many of the Scrum Group members from Tennessee when they came two days after the kids arrived. They came, as always, to celebrate with us (this time for the new children being here), to fellowship, pray, and to talk about how wonderful and faithful our Father is when He gives us a vision. The Lord has used the Scrum Group and their supporters in a mighty way to bring His vision to reality! We are so very thankful to them and for them!!!
James 1:27

We also have the new Rayo de Esperanza web site up and running. You will be able to see some pictures and follow progress as the children grow. There is a calender with some speacial dates also.

God bless Mike and Karen

Praise God for His timing

Red Tape Shredded! Children Coming!

It is the Lord's timing! Our friends, Manolo and Vilma Bendfeldt, at Fundaniños (orphanage in Guatemala City) have cut through the governmental red tape on our behalf. Rancho Esperanza has become a satellite facility for Fundaniños. Fundaniños is a larger, well established and wonderful Christian orphanage. We have known the Bendfeldts for years through our good friend Woody Woodson at Vine International. Manolo and Vilma have two families of children who are not adoptable and are in need of a more permanent family situation. And that is what Rancho Esperanza is all about!

One family group of children was living on the streets with their drug-addicted parents before arriving at Fundaniños two years ago. We don't yet know the full situation of the other children who have been with Fundaniños for three years. The children have never been visited by their biological parents. None of the children had ever gone to school while with their parents. So they are trying to catch up. They will be out of school for the year this month and we will pick them up on November 2nd!

Mike and I got to meet all the children last Thursday, the 9th of October! They are all very precious! I don't know who is more excited, us or them! Some of them are already packed. Vilma and Patty (their devoted care-giver) facilitated the meeting. It went very well and the children felt free to ask many questions. We showed them photos of the ranch, the house, the church, etc. They were thrilled that we have animals, especially the horses.

Francisca is 14yrs., Esperanza is 8yrs., Danny is 5yrs., Angélica is 13yrs., Lucía is 12yrs., and Pedro is 7yrs. old. There was one hitch though, two other children really want to come too. And because Vilma and Manolo are still trying to get custody of another sibling (10yrs. old) so as to reunite the family, we need to save space for her. But, then again, as Manolo said, if we can make room for one more bed for the sister, a bunk bed will fit in that space and maybe we could take the other girl? We'll see. Right now they are four girls and only two boys. We have one girl's room and one boy's room. Fortunately another of the children who wants to come is a boy! So we could end up with six girls and three boys, four boys including Michael José that is. That is going to max out our family situation, I think.

What I want to say at this point is that there are so many cases like those of our new children. We have come to the point, finally, of asking you all to put out the word at church, Bible studies, small groups, work, friends, relatives, etc., that we need another set of house parents here at Rancho Esperanza! We strongly believe that God has placed this service on the hearts of many of His children. Who will be obedient? Who feels called to raise children in the Lord? What is standing in your way? When we have a commitment of at least 3yrs. from a couple, another house will be built and we will be able to receive more children who need a family situation. This is His project, and His vision, who will answer His call?

Thank you so much for all your prayers! What a blessing it is to work with you all and to be able to witness, with you, the faithfulness of our Father in this project. Where God guides, He really does provide! We also want to share with you that another widow on staff has asked the Lord Jesus into her heart, our precious "Nanny" Vilma! It has been so incredibly fantastic to witness!

More later.
Love in Christ,
Karen, Mike, & Family

Please forgive

Please Forgive

Please forgive me if my update inspired fear for our personal safety! We feel just as safe here as we ever did at home. What I wanted to convey was the sadness for the people we minister to here, the urgency for us all to put on the full armor of God and to fight the darkness that surrounds us (meaning surrounding you all, as well) through the strength of the Lord, not our own.

If any one of you picked up your local newspaper, you would find the same things happening in your area. I wrote about the situation here because it weighs so heavily on my heart. We personally know many of the victims and some of the suspected perpetrators as well. Yesterday my "daughter" Leti told me more than I wanted to know about some of the recent tragedies. The locals know who's doing what to whom and why, but they will never tell authorities. It is a mind-set that is difficult for Gringos to understand, unless one lives in the ghettos in the United States... that is.

Supposedly, the teenaged boys murdered were involved in drug trafficking (like their late father, uncle) and involved in murders, themselves. We still grieve for their loss of opportunity to grow up and follow a different path. We grieve for their families as well. Supposedly, the guard at Mario's was killed because of a love triangle and nothing more. What a horrible price to pay! The man in Florido was killed because someone knew that he had just received his pay for two week's work, and wanted to rob him on the path to his house. The phone card salesman was killed for the same reason.

Nobody in the compound is going out after dark. The police have suggested that the citizens not be out on the streets after 9:00pm for the time being. We assume its because of the "cleansing" that is going on. Leti told me that it is a drug family who's responsible for the sweep, how ironic!!!!

We, in no way, feel led to leave our post in Guatemala. We do not feel that the compound nor the residents are in any unusual danger. We are expecting to receive six children at the end of this month. Gracias a Dios!!! Please know that we believe very strongly that we are in God's will and are being obedient in our service to Him. We do not want to be seen as anything other than two grunts who love the Lord and want to serve Him through ministering to the people here. Anything else is bull-puckey!

We love you,
Karen, Mike, and Family

PS This was just a note about what is happening in our little tiny area of Guatemala. This is not to say it is going on all over Guatemala. The police are serious in the city, they even give tickets.

LORD,touch the hearts

Lord, touch the hearts

The violence is escalating in our area. The police do nothing. There are never any witnesses even when there are, if you know what I mean. All this is leading to more and more vigilantism. There are, of course, a multitude of problems with the vigilante mentality. When people take it upon themselves to exact justice it only leads to more tragedy. Leti told me once, when she was violated, that there is no justice in Guatemala, only with the Lord will there ever be justice. How painfully true.

Last month three teenagers 15 to 19 years old were murdered, one in the schoolyard right next door to Rancho Esperanza, on a Sunday morning. His brother was killed in Seja, the village next to ours. Their cousin was shot near Rio Dulce. They were suspected by some to have been involved in some acts of thievery. They were just boys and now have no chance of growing up to follow a different path. It seems they received the death penalty for stealing something that someone else felt was more valuable than three human lives. That is, IF they were even guilty in the first place.

There is some unknown group of people who have given notice to our village of Cooperativa and Seja, through dropped leaflets, that they are on a “cleaning mission” and anyone out after nine o’clock at night is subject to being shot down. Two weeks ago a villager from Florido (also very near us) was shot and killed. He was a hard worker and EARNED his money to support the family, who is now left to fend for themselves. Also a phone card salesman was shot and killed at night.

The citizens are scared to be witnesses to anything because of probable revenge on the part of the perpetrators. The police are in the same situation. Many times they know who the criminals are but do nothing, in order to protect themselves and their families. There have been some drug-trafficking casualties as well. The police, especially with these crimes, did not pursue closure.

When we lived in San Felipe, a mentally ill teenager was murdered there. And the villagers told me that he used to steal soap and stuff like that out of their pilas at night. They never knew him to do any more than take and hoard miscellaneous cleaning items that were left outside.

It has been a couple of years now since an unknown group or individual decided to “clean” the streets of Rio Dulce of all the mentally ill homeless people. One by one and in different manners, they were all murdered. Who would do these things? What kind of human beings could carry out these sick “cleansings”??? A person without a conscience, a person without a Lord and Savior.

On Aug 9th of this year a band of robbers boarded the sailboat of an older couple (on the Rio Dulce) and demanded money. When the couple gave them what they had on board, the thieves were not satisfied and became enraged. They hacked the man to death with machetes and also stabbed the wife who survived. The police in this instance, because of pressure from within Guatemala (worried no doubt about the tourist trade) and pressure from outside Guatemala, investigated and caught two suspects from the village in which we minister through the clinic, La Esmeralda.

Last Sunday on his way to work at 6:00 in the afternoon, the night guard for Mario’s Marina was shot and killed just outside the gate from Esmeralda to the marina. He leaves a young wife and small children behind. It goes on and on.

Every Wednesday morning, all ranch staff and family gather here at the house for intense prayer. We are praying that the Lord will touch those who do not know Him, soften their hearts to hear the Gospel message of salvation, love and mercy through Jesus Christ, that He would use us in any way to further His kingdom. We pray for Him to change Rio Dulce, Guatemala, the world, even if by “cattle-prodding” those he has already called but have not yet gone into active service (whatever or wherever that may be), to protect all those in His service in the USA and the world over, to open everyone’s eyes to the devastation and feelings of hopelessness in the darkness surrounding us, to give us strength and wisdom and peace that can only come from Him, to pour out His healing on the many missionaries who are leaving Guatemala and other foreign posts right now.

He doesn’t NEED to use us He WANTS to use us, and he wants us to WANT to be used by Him. Its that whole “free-will thing” that gets us in trouble sometimes. Please join us in our prayers for help, and our praises for what He has already done in our lives and countless others. We also want you to know that each and every one of you is prayed for by us as well. Thank you for your involvement in His project in Guatemala. May the Lord bless and keep you.

Love,
Karen, Mike, and Family

A little good news

Well I have let this go again, sorry. Two weeks ago we were in Guatemala City for the week trying to find out and work out the final details so we can receive children. Yes praise God we think we have found what needs to be done. At least one of the steps. We have been making final preps here at the ranch in hopes that God puts everything together at our next meeting. We should hear from the court very soon now to let us know when our face to face meeting will be. Please pray with us that it is very soon and that all will go well.

Well it is Sept 22 and no word yet; we will be calling our friend in Guatemala City that is helping with this to see if there is any word. We think we will be under his orphanage as a satellite house while we try to get and fill out all the paperwork to be on our own. This will allow us to recieve children. We were misled years ago when we did our Association, at that time we were told all we need to do is go to the court house and tell them we are ready, this did not turn out to be the whole story. We just pray that we are going the right direction now.

We have been working around trying to make sure all final prep is done so that when the court says OK we will be completely ready.
Some of you have asked for a needs list, well we have one. If you would like to know some of them please email for a list.
I will say that Spanish bibles are on the top of the list.

Thanks for taking the time to keep up on us, God bless, have a wonderful day.
Mike and Karen (Rayo de Esperanza)

Beaver Update

Busy Beavers

A little dam is under construction at Hope Ranch. The creek that divides the property is being dammed at one point for two reasons. One, so that the tractor can pass over to the orchard and pasture more easily. And two, water is pumped out of the creek to irrigate the orchard.

It has been fascinating to see the guys work with concrete in the water. They divert the water one way, work, divert it another way, etc... Don Oscar, Anibal, Oscar, and Chivete are very creative and resourceful and keep Mike busy right along with them.

Mike has been making friends with Princess Fiona's colt by giving him molasses mixed with alfalfa pellets and water, right out of his hand. He sneaks in pats and scratches and the colt seems to really enjoy it. My sister-in-law, Dorothy Small, has named him "Joaquin". We love the name. The kids like to name the animals from children's movies so in keeping with that, I am adding "Lightning" to his name. Instead of "Lightning McQueen" from "Cars", his name is "Lightning Joaquin".
I can’t say that I’ve been a busy beaver lately. The flu knocked me down for a week. But I have been learning how to crochet in order to help Ilda and Silvia with their home economics projects. Dorothy came to the rescue, once again. She had given me a book called “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Knitting and Crocheting” and that’s just what I needed! We all learned a new skill and enjoyed doing it together. Now we are going to learn to embroider.

I have to say, its been wonderful being a “stay-at-home mom/grandma” to so many kids. At times it can be a little hectic but so many blessings come from being here with them. Our son Jacob was really cheated and so were we for always working, working, working and having little time at home. Delayed wisdom.

Gotta go for now. May the Lord bless and keep you.
Love,
Karen

Another day at Rancho Esperanza

Hope and pray all is well in your area. We have been spending the nights listening to Thunder, rain pounding on the roof and watching the lightening, then when the power goes out we head for bed. During the day we have been working in the nastiest mud you can imagine, that's why we all have to wear those goofy rubber boots. The guys end up only being able to chop and clean up the trees that have been blown down while I have spent much time and frustration on the computer trying to make a web site.
Watching the new colt and the mom running around gives us so joy, not as much as if we had a bunch of kids running around but for now it is our entertainment. It is amazing how a baby horse changes in a week and a half.
OK if anyone wants here are a couple of new web sites, Rayo de Esperanza.org has been changed a bit and Rancho Esperanza.org is new. We still have Rancho Esperanza.net but I have not been able to update it so I made another one.
I got word that the kitchen equipment may be coming down pretty soon, that means we will be starting our feeding program soon. Praise God. We continue to pray for fans and lights for the church and unwed mothers house, also for chairs for the church.
I need to get back out in the mud for awhile so I will go for now, we will try to keep you posted on progress and the cool things God is doing down here.
God bless Mike and Karen

The last day in the Rio Dulce

August 5 Tuesday the team did 3 programs all in differant locations, the first was in the village of San Fransisco. This is a refuge village that we started working in about 2 years ago. The school is new and still under construction, and a bit muddy to get to, not a complaint was heard. The room we were in was small and crowded but everyone did there thing and everything went really well. Next we were in Cieniga a bigger village, they set up on the soccer field which is cement. Then on to Buena Vista, a private school, there they had a large room and even brought in chairs for everyone. It has been a real blessing to Karen and I to have this group here, they blessed the kids so much, they may never know how many lives were touched. we have the privilege of staying here and being able to continue what this youth group started. Her are the photo's of the day. We say them off this morning at 8:30, they will be missed.
God bless Mike and Karen Rhea (Rayo de Esperanza)

Monday Aug 4

Today the group did 3 programs, what a great day. They were once again Awesome. There were a few that missed out as they were sick but praise God there is doctor Paul. It seems to be a stomach thing moving among them. It is so wonderful for us to be blessed by youth teams, it is in awe that we watch them and are able to interact with young kids that are so in love with God. Every one of them shows the love of Christ through there eyes even when things are a little tough and they are getting sick. They truly have servants hearts. we have been able to do devotions with them and love hearing how they interact with doctor Paul as he leads them through the study.
It is actually Tuesday morning and I need to prepare for the day. It is with sadness that today will be the last day but we pray they all take something back with them from this time here. We also pray that they can come back sometime. Here are the photo's from August 4
God bless Mike and Karen

Sunday Aug 3 program at the Ranch

I know it is not Aug 3rd anymore but I just could not get to this last night, Sorry. It was a great day, one full of blessings for all that came and also to us. We had a great devotion time and had people coming during devotions, it was wonderful. Today the team had time to interact with the kids after the program, It looked to me like they really enjoyed have this time. When we are in the schools they have to run off to class right after so it is just pick up and go. The pictures are HERE. Sorry there is so many pictures of our son Michael but he does not get to be involved very often, he had a great time playing the drums, and after the program loved being able to hand out bibles.
It is 6:00 AM so I need to get ready for the team to arrive, today we do 3 schools and I do not want to be the one to make us late.
God bless Mike and Karen (Rayo de Esperanza)

Aug 2 work at the ranch

What a great day. The soccer tournament was from 9:30 AM, well it did not get started till around 9:50 but all was wonderful, and lasted until about 11:00, a good time was had by all. I think some of the youth from around here that came surprised the team a little. These guys and girls are really pretty good. After the games we headed to the ranch for a little work. It was awesome, we got the sound system all tested and installed, and got some of the corral painted. The whole group worked hard and I think even had a good time.
God bless Mike and Karen (Rayo de Esperanza) photo's of today.

Calvary Chapel first day

Just a short note to show you what is going on this week. I will try to put up a new post every day of their trip so if you would like to follow along check the blog once in a while. The first day went well with the young kids in the morning and the older ones in the afternoon. Today they are doing a soccer tournament this morning and will be at the ranch this afternoon for some painting, tomorrow will be church in the morning and more painting in the afternoon. Monday we have 1 school at 7:30 AM in our neighborhood, 10:30 in Seja very near us, again at 3:00 PM at the private school in Seja. Tuesday we have only 2 schools, one in San Francisco at 9:AM the next is in Buena Vista at 3 PM. Wednesday they head back to Guatemala city. I won't bother you with daily emails so if interested please check it out on your own.
God bless Mike and Karen (Rayo de Esperanza) Youth trip photo's

Short update

Princess Fiona (the pony) finally gave birth Sunday July 27th between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM. The baby doesn't appear to be a mule. He is colored and featured almost identically to his mother. So who knows how big he is going to get? Since Princess is not a "real" pony, but a runt horse (11 hands high) and we don't know who fathered her colt, it will be interesting to see how he turns out! We haven't come up with a name for him yet. He is very cute and everyone is so excited about the "baby". The kids just watch from a distance for long periods of time, fascinated.

It's been busy here with the kids preparing for their finals for the bimestre at school. Everyone needs some kind of help or another. Construction on Casa Aulani (un-wed mothers house) and the church is complete! We just have a few details to finish ourselves. They turned out beaytifully! We are so thankful to God and the S.Group and their supporters, and the Smiths and Aulani Dance Studio and their supporters. What a huge blessing it is to see the project growing.

Today we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the youth team from Calvary Chapel, St Petersburg, FL.Their mission is to connect with the children of our area by presenting activities, games, dramas, and music, with the Gospel Message. Please pray for them and the children they will be reaching out to. Our Lord is awesome!

Love in Christ,

Karen, Mike, and family

Construction Update

We pray everyone is doing well.

We are sad to say that Fernando and Catherine have been called back to California. They feel led to ministry back home. It was difficult to say good-bye to them and they will be missed. Of course we are happy for them as they made their decision based on the Lord's leading. We all want to continue in His will. But since we are human, we allow ourselves to be selfishly sad for a time. Please keep them in prayer for a smooth transition. Que Dios le bendiga y que le vaya bien, Fernando y Catherine!

Just a short note on progress: The church and unwed mothers' house are very near completion. We have a meeting with the builder today 6-24-08 to go over the last items that need to be done. All construction on this phase was to be done by the time we got back from the States, but originally it should have been done 3 months ago.

This phase of construction has proven to be a struggle for the contractor to even come close to deadlines and quality control has become an issue.It is a sad situation because he did great work on the first phase.It has been very frustrating to say the least. For these reasons, we have decided that the remaining structures in the project should be built by teams. That being said, we are now in need of construction teams more than ever. Please keep that in prayer.

Below are a couple of photos, you will be able to view more on this link. Rayo de Esperanza

The septic systems have proven to be ineffective due to the no-perk condition of our clay soil. The contractor has not been able to satisfactorily rectify the problem so Mike and a brother in TN are in the process of re-designing the system. We know that this is not a very exciting donation request but we could use some help on funding the new leach-field. We need to bring in more fill (not clay), gravel, and pipes, etc.

If you have interest in bringing down a construction team, please email Mike for a list of projects. There are large projects, small projects, funded and un-funded.

PS:The children's pony is expecting. It seems back in November we purchased her "in a family way" without being aware. We thought she was a little chubby then, but now she's huge and her teats are swelling! We just have two large geldings here and as far as we know, the ranch she came from has only large horses and a small burro. So.... We'll let you know how that story ends later.

Love in Christ, Karen, Mike, and Kids

More photo's

Freedom

May 2008

Once a year Joni & Friends - Wheels for the World - Knoxville TN Chapter, Vine International, and Bethel Ministries join forces to bless the Guatemalan people in three different locations. Guatemala City, the Peten, and Rio Dulce are the areas served. Words aren't enough to express the amount of love and caring shown by each and every person on the teams.

But it all starts much before they arrive. Each organization has many behind-the scenes members who were busy at work preparing for the whirlwind tour in Guatemala. From the people who donated the wheelchairs, the staff, volunteers, and donors of the different ministries, the prison inmates who repair the wheelchairs, the warehouse and transport workers, to the logistics teams, were all in motion to begin a common mission.

Once here in-country the administration teams, physical therapists, wheelchair mechanics, translators, doctors and nurses, dentists and assistants, prayer councilors, and pharmacy team set out to complete the work. Each is a part of the body of Christ that came together to meet a need.

I believe that the very basic need in this case, if one word had to be used, is freedom. When a person who has been stuck in his/her bed for years receives their first wheelchair, when a patient is being treated by a doctor or nurse or the dentist for something that has been bothering them for a long time, when someone gets medication to relieve pain and suffering, when a child of God receives Christ's gift of salvation, well... FREEDOM RINGS!!!

What a privilege it has been for us to be a small part of this wonderful project and to share in our brothers' and sisters' suffering and sacrifice, pain and sorrow, joy and happiness, faith, hope, and love!

It is always such a blessing to set the groundwork here in Rio Dulce for the yearly visit of the teams. While Mike was covering the logistics for our area, Fernando, Catherine, and I had the opportunity to meet with the wheelchair patients and their families well before the teams arrived. We helped them fill out the forms, took their pictures, prayed with them, and explained the project.

For us it was a labor of love and hope, and we want to share the experience. All of you help to make it possible for us to be involved. We are truly grateful to each and every one of you. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Psalm 118:5 In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free.

Now that I have used the "thousand words", here are a few pictures...

If you would like to see more photos of this event please click this link

Rayo de Esperanza

Creation Appreciation

April 2008

The day began helping Dr. Alan Barber's team of doctors get to their remote clinic site in Cuatro Cayos. A beautiful launch ride up the Rio Cienega, we had no stress as this was not our clinic. Mike and I were just showing them the way and hauling some tables and chairs in our launch. Our grandson, Oscar, was with us on the bow looking out for navigational hazards and Mike was at the helm. Well, now that I think of it , I had no stress. There was plenty of time for me to enjoy God's beauty and be close to Him. The peace and calm washed over me.

The return trip was everything but peaceful and calm as we transported a woman in labor. Before we left the shore, we asked Dr. Sarah to join us in our launch because, "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies". Just in case, we wanted the mother to be as safe as possible. We were all concerned because her "water" had broken two days before and the baby hadn't been active for four days. And the mother had a fever.

We had called ahead to have an ambulance waiting at Bruno's Marina in Rio Dulce. The normally forty five minute trip seemed like forever as the mother's moans and cries grew stronger. We had to pull over to the riverbank at one point and then (to skip graphic detail), we continued on. Dr. Sarah, thinking of the unsanitary conditions of giving birth in the launch and not having any equipment with us, kept telling the mother not to push. And I dutifully and willingly translated this to the poor woman.

When finally the mother's mother told her to lay down, she had been standing the whole way, Mike said, "It's going to happen in the launch!" Mike kept speeding up and finally we were out of the Rio Cienega and on the Rio Dulce. Praise God for the new launch motor, and we were silently thanking (you know who you are) for buying it. At last we were pulling into Bruno's looking for the ambulance. They had gotten tired of waiting and left.

Just as the bow of the launch tapped the seawall, Dr. Sarah delivered a beautiful healthy baby girl! Mom was ever so relieved and fine. Then another doctor was having his lunch right at the seawall and jumped down into the launch to see if he could be of help. Dr. Sarah let the mother have a rest and then she delivered the placenta.

In the meantime, we had called the ambulance back and the fireman brought the suction bulb, clamp, and he cut the umbilical cord. Good teamwork is always a blessing! Needless to say we will be traveling with a little more equipment in our packs and God willing, a doctor like Sarah. May the Lord bless you and your practice, Dr. Sarah!

And thank YOU LORD for allowing us to enjoy Your creation in the morning and witness Your creation in the evening. It was a day we will not soon forget!

PS: The next day on our way out of the Rio Cienega we passed the water bus heading for Cuatro Cayos. Mom, baby, and grandma were on their way back to their village smiling and waving as we motored past one another. It almost seemed like a dream.

Karen's dads recovery

This is just tolet everyone know that Karen's dad is doing very well after his surgery. We picked him up yesterday and he is doing fantastic. He gets around well and won't slow down now. He had to stop at Wal-Mart on the way home for medicine and insisted on going in himself to get it.
We praise God for his recovery and pray that he won't over due. Both he and us know that there is a long recovery period and pray that he continues doing as well as he is now.
Thank you all so much for your prayers, we trust that is why he is doing so well. The power of prayer is awesome.
Thanks again, I will work on an update from the ranch soon.
God bless Mike and Karen

Long over due

Very sorry that it has been so long for any update, it has been a very busy time. I left here for a trip to the states to pick up a donated sound system for the church, and some tools for the wood working school we will have here. I intended on only being in California for a few days but the truck needed more work than I thought. This did give me some time with our son Jacob and a good visit with the rest of my family. And not to mention all the Christmas shopping I got to do. (What fun). This was the year for bikes for the kids.

I got to spend the first Thanksgiving in years with my family.

The trip was 6 days to get to California; I left the house at 6 AM Thursday the 8th. I entered Mexico around noon Friday the 9th. I then drove until 8 PM and stopped for the night in Acayucan. Left there at 5 AM and made it to Tampico around 7 or 8 PM. Left Tampico at 4 AM and got to the boarder by 12 noon. In this time in Mexico I was stopped at 11 check points, one of them snagged my cell phone out of my glove box. I did not find this out until I went to call Karen and let her know I was OK. After an hour of investigating the truck and my passport I was on my way, how nice the US highways are. I drove to about 50 miles west of San Antonio and got a room about 5 PM, got a good night sleep and hit the road again at 5 AM. I stopped only for a couple hours of sleep a couple of times until I got to Sacramento CA on the afternoon of the 14th. On my return I finally left at 5PM on the 28th of November; went to southern Calif where I was to pick up the sound system, I slept a couple of hours while waiting for the sun to come up then went the last hour to the house that had the system. I was loaded by 7 AM and hit the road. I drove straight thru to Deming New Mexico and got a room. I then hit the road about 5 AM and drove to McAllen Texas, arriving at a hotel around 8 PM Friday the 30th. Started crossing the boarder at 7 AM Saturday, This turned into a very big deal, I was sent to 4 different crossings all on the Mexican side with no paperwork at all. Turned out I had to stay at the boarder until Monday. Started at 8 AM Monday morning, the rest of the day was very frustrating; at times I did not think I would get thru Monday but finally at about 4 PM I made it. I then drove to Tampico where I got a room and a good night sleep, o’yea the room I had to stay in at the boarder was very substandard. Unless of course you don’t mind sleeping with the roaches. Enough about that weekend. I left Tampico at 5 AM Tuesday the 4th of December and went thru to the Talisman crossing into Guatemala stopping for a couple of hours sleep in a truck stop. I arrived at the boarder at 7 AM and thought I had it made. As it turned out I thought I was going to be stuck there for another day but praise God I was able to get thru around 3 in the afternoon. I left there and drove until I got home at 2 AM the Morning of the 6th of December. From the time I got into Mexico to the time I left it only cost about 700 dollars not including fuel or food. God saw me thru all this and took care of my every need and keep me safe. I praise God for all He does for us on a daily basis and for everything He taught me on this trip.

We had a team coming from our home church on the fifth of December, I thought by leaving when I did I could get back in time, by the time I got done at the US boarder things were real close and I was not sure I could get back in time. I had to call Karen from the Guatemalan boarder and have her send a van for the group as I did not leave the boarder until about 3 hours after the group was to land. They got to there hotel here on the river about 9 PM the night of the 5th. I picked them up at there hotel around 8 AM December 6 and we got to work. What a blessing this group was. They built a mezzanine in the bodega and we had plenty of time for fellowship.

The group was here for a week, when we saw them off we stayed in Guatemala city for the night then it was time to come home and try to catch up. While spending time with Karen and Michael Jose and the rest of the family, there was also 5 weeks of work to catch up on, and at the same time get ready for Christmas.

(Remembering the reason for the season) really makes Christmas a very special time of year.

Seeing the look on the kid’s faces when they saw there bikes was such a huge blessing. Then Christmas day we were going to one of the Marinas down river for Christmas dinner. The whole family piled in the launch and down river we went. A great time was had by all. On the way home the launch motor blew up about half way so we drifted around for about ½ hour then got a tow back. The kids were a little scared but by the time we got home all was well. Not sure what to do about the motor yet. I have had it in and out of the shop for quit some time now; I guess it finally had enough.

Now to news of the Ranch, the last blog shows what was going on when I left for my trip. These are pics of how they look now. Construction should be complete the end of February or March, we’ll see.



Please pray that the presidential transition will go well and paperwork will again start moving.
Pray that he may realize the need for better education.
PRAISE God for his salvation and continued guidance, love, grace, mercy and the joys He is giving us along the way.

We have a team coming in today; please pray for flexibility as we have been getting rain for the last 2 days.

Construction news

Well it has been almost two weeks since the last construction update, here goes. It is really cool for us to watch the walls going up on the unwed mothers house. They are window high around the outside and are going up on the interior walls now. We will see how it goes but I have been told they will be starting the steel for the roof in a week. We have had a lot of rain the last week and half, it has slowed things down a bit. It is kinda funny to see them bailing the footings, reminds me of bailing the launch.

Work is also going well on the church building. It has taken a good bit of work to get the footings done because I did not have them cut a pad. I decided to have the floor raised . This of course requires extra wide and deep footings. We are able to maintain natural drainage this way.

There is a missionary that has been working in the back woods for the last 20 years that is not far from us. He does exotic fruit trees along with local trees. He is helping us with the orchard and has supplied us our first 100 trees. Total for now will be around 150. We came to a deal and I have traded a couple of days tractor work for him to pay for these trees. It may not look like much in the photos but it is very exciting for us.

You have to look pretty hard to see these but it really is rows of trees. Next week we have to build a tower to put water tanks on. We will pump the water from the creek up the hill to supply water.

PRAISE report. We want to thank all of you for your prayers concerning Kevin, we can't tell you in words what it meant to us to have so many praying with and for us. We are doing well and starting to get back to normal, what ever that is.

PRAYER request. Please keep us in prayer, for health both physical and mental. As always for guidance, wisdom and strength. Also we still need a small construction team, 4-5 guys for a week. Please keep these things in prayer.

Kevin

Our hearts are broken. There is no good way to tell you that Kevin died Friday at his grandmother’s house. We don’t know what happened, as she has changed her story three times. Kevin died as he lived, without his mother to love and care for him. That is all he ever wanted.

Kevin was loving, brave, honest, funny, and very out-going. He loved to hear stories from his children’s Bible at bedtime. We always prayed together as a family on Kevin’s bed at night, never forgetting to pray for God to take care of his mom. He loved playing with Legos, coloring in color books, blowing bubbles, and riding in the car. Kevin loved going to Bible School and learning from Catherine and seeing Fernando on Sundays. He loved it when we had visiting missionaries from the USA. He talked non-stop about everything he saw and did. It was as if he was doing everything for the first time.

He had such enthusiasm when he planted his cucumber and cilantro seeds in his very own raised garden pot. He loved to eat cucumber with lemon and salt. Kevin was truly amazed when his seeds grew plants. I’m sorry that he didn’t get to taste the fruits of his labor. There are now cucumbers growing on his plants. He would have been so excited and proud.

We had great hopes for Kevin’s continued improvement, especially after Keri Bronson came from the USA to evaluate him and create a therapy program just for him. She was so good with him and discovered things he could do that we didn’t even know about. She taught him to say, “I need some help”, instead of, “I can’t”. In the short amount of time Keri was here, Kevin made great strides and had a lot of fun too!

One of Kevin’s great-moments-in-history here at the ranch was when Papi Michael let him “drive” the tractor. I watched teary eyed, camera at the ready, as they made their way around the field. I never saw such a smile and soaring spirit in my life! It was such a simple thing to us, but to him it meant the world.

During Kevin’s stay at Rancho Esperanza, God sent a pediatrician on a non-medical mission from Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg. Dr. Paul spent some time with Kevin and told me that he saw no evidence of cerebral palsy. He believed that Kevin had muscular dystrophy. We were devastated but wanted to know exactly what Kevin was dealing with. Dr. Paul said that it would take a muscle biopsy to determine if Kevin had Duchene’s or another type of MD. But because we still didn’t have guardianship papers, we could not authorize any medical treatment.

In late August, for legal reasons (to protect the project and ourselves) we had to return Kevin and Fania, temporarily, to a family member until they performed their responsibilities with the court and made us legal guardians of the children. As long as we were caring for the children, the family was never motivated to do the paperwork. The project was in jeopardy of being closed down for having “non-documented children”. The family was making some progress in the paperwork, when the Lord called Kevin home to be with Him.

We originally took Kevin in, without legal protection, out of his mother’s home because he was severely malnourished. She was in full agreement but immediately took off to be with her boyfriend full-time in the Peten. By the time we placed him with his grandmother, he had been doing very well, could use his arms and hands again, had gained at least five pounds, had had a lot of fun, but was very happy to be back in his village.

Kevin had everything here at the ranch except what he needed and wanted most, his mom. He had his own room, a bed with a Spiderman bedspread (he loved Spiderman), plenty of good food, a mountain of toys, clothes, kids who loved him, foster parents who loved him, animals to play with, and new adventures. But at times, he would cry for his family, his village, with the trail by the house that brought much foot-traffic. He loved to chat with the villagers and knew them all by name. To be truthful to myself and to you, Kevin didn’t want to come back to the ranch.

I’m sure that he would have re-adjusted, but it wasn’t “home” and I wasn’t his mom. So many of us were trying to do what we felt was best for Kevin. His aunt and uncle were pressing the mother and grandmother to get the paperwork in order so that the children could come back to us. When Mike got the call from the aunt that Kevin had died, it was all over in a flash. The Lord decided what was best for Kevin. And like my father told me, the feelings that I was feeling and the things I was saying about Kevin’s death, in so many words, didn’t serve a purpose except to second-guess God. And my father is right.

The burial was Saturday, Kevin’s mom, Angela, got into town just in time for the graveside service. She was stricken with grief and guilt. She was shunned by her entire family. And, during the service, when the pastor asked if anyone had something to say about Kevin, the grandmother stood there in front of everyone and lambasted the mom for abandoning her son.

The Lord had already touched my heart to comfort the mom and be loving and gracious toward her even before she arrived. Somehow I just accepted this as something very important to do. By the time the grandmother made her speech, I knew exactly why God had me do and say the things to Angela that my mind had wondered at. Our whole family, including Fernando and Catherine hugged Angela and comforted her and showed her love and compassion. If I had acted in my flesh, I wouldn’t have been far behind the others in their treatment of Kevin’s mom. But Kevin loved his mom and appreciated that she came to say goodbye.

We all miss you very much, Kevin. And we thank the Lord God for the privilege of having you with us and for having been touched so deeply and profoundly by such a special child as you. We love you, Kevin. We always will. You are forever in our hearts.