Back in Sioux Center

    Living in Sioux Center again has been quite different than the past few months when we were gone.  The weather is very cold here compared to Mexico.  A lot of the snow has melted now, but huge piles of snow covered the ground when we got back in February.  No more going for long walks in the afternoon to Spanish tutoring, restaurants, or the grocery store.
It's also a big change that we can speak English to people in restaurants, stores, and church.  It's a relief to just hear English and understand it instead of hearing Spanish and always having to mentally translate.  We miss the market places in Mexico and being able to buy the handmade items such as bracelets, necklaces, and belts.  We also miss the tortillerias where we could get fresh tortillas everyday, and being able to buy homemade tamales every Saturday night.

For the five months we were traveling with my dad, we did not have a car.  So we got very used to traveling by buses, taxis, and combis (mini buses).  The picture is of me waiting in a combi to go back to San Cristobal.  Most of the buses we rode were very comfortable with movies, snacks, restrooms, and three or four reclining seats in a row.  The bus rides we took varied from one hour in length to six hours.  That gave us lots of chances to watch Spanish movies!  Now we drive our car to get to different places, and we don't have to depend on public transportation.
While we were gone, I mostly just talked with my mom and dad and a few other missionaries.  But now since we've been back, I've been able to spend time with people my age again.  It's been fun hanging out with them at our house or at church or school activities. 

Even though we're back in Sioux Center, my mom is still home-schooling me.  Sometimes when we were traveling, we didn't have a desk to study at, so we studied on the bed, like the picture of us in Oaxaca.  Now we have a big table in my bedroom where we study.  Homeschooling is fun and everything we do is related to school. :) My mom and I are reading The Little House books together; we are on The Little Town on the Prairie  right now.  One reason I'm not attending the local school is that for some of the classes, we're using different textbooks than they are.  So it would be hard to transition into the books they're using.  And for the books that are the same, we're at a different place than they are.  Another reason is that we plan to travel again soon, and this way we don't miss any schoolwork.
I got started with my school's band, since homeschoolers can go too.  Last week we had a band concert that I got to participate in.  I am also taking piano lessons again while we're here.  That way I don't lose a whole year of practicing.
So all in all, it's been great to be home, even though we loved the traveling.  We look forward to going back to Alaska next month as well as Mexico in May.    Rachel

Left Behind

That's a little how Rachel and I felt this week - left behind. Brian actually went on a trip without us! Even though that has been the norm for the past 14 years, it seems strange not to accompany him after traveling together for the past six months.
He is spending the week in Georgetown, Guyana. Many people are not familiar with this country. It's in South America and borders Venezuela, Suriname and Brazil.
The official language of Guyana is English, having been a British colony until 1966. It's very unusual for Brian to work with translation teams in English. On previous trips to Guyana, he has actually started training in Spanish, and then quickly realized the translators didn't understand what he was saying!
Brian is working with two different New Testament translation projects in the languages of Wapishana and Patamuna. There are approximately 10,000 speakers of Wapishana and 5,000 speakers of Patamuna. Both projects will be completed by 2011. It's always exciting to see projects coming so close to completion.
After Guyana, he will be home for one week and then he's off to Paraguay - again without us! This time he will be traveling with our home church's pastor, Rev. Mark Heijerman. Brian is very excited to show Pastor Mark first-hand the work of translation and his role in that exciting ministry.
If he gets his visa approved, in April Brian will be spending almost two weeks in Lahore, Pakistan, assisting with a translation workshop. He began work on the visa in February, but was told it could take 3-4 months. So please pray that the process goes more quickly than that, and he is able to participate in this very worthwhile training event.
As always, thanks so much for your continued interest in and support of our ministry! Donna

Chiapas

A few days before we left Chiapas, we had the opportunity to visit the Tojolabal village of Saltillo. Or more accurately, the Annex of Saltillo. Almost 20 years ago, five families from Saltillo made the decision to become Christian. Because the village was very resistant to the Gospel, these families were expelled from Saltillo and forced to live elsewhere. Not only were they forced to leave their homes but also their farms and way of living.
When we lived in Chiapas in the early 90's, we had the privilege of visiting these believers as they lived in various locations, including three storage buildings behind a local church. During that time, more families became Christian and were also forcibly removed from Saltillo. One believer was even shot and killed as he walked back from his field with two of his children. After several years, all of the expelled were eventually allowed to settle in the Annex of Saltillo. This meant the people were able to resume working their farmland and provide a living for their families.
Fast forward 15 years and our recent visit. The believers in the Annex are doing well. There are two churches in the village, and the original church is being expanded (see picture). The pastor was out of the village the day we were there, but we did visit with one of the original five believers and his son. Juan told us about going to a nearby village to do mason work. No one in that village was a Christian; in fact the entire village supported the Zapatista movement. But Juan began sharing the Gospel with one of the men he was working with. Little by little, the man became more interested and asked to have the pastor come along as well. Over time, the entire village turned away from the Zapatista beliefs and turned toward the Lord.
Saltillo still does not allow Christians to live in their village. In fact, Juan told us that just a few days before, several men living in Saltillo who had recently become Christians were jailed for their beliefs. Please pray for these new Christians and their families as they face imprisonment and likely expulsion. Also please pray for the Tojolabal believers living in the Annex as they continue to witness in Saltillo and other neighboring villages. Donna

Back Home

The last few weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind. That's one of the reasons we haven't posted as many blogs as usual. In mid January, Bob Bascom, a Translation Coordinator with the Bible Societies, came to Chiapas for a week. He and Brian worked together with the Tojolabals for three days and with the Chols for two days. My sister Kim also came for a visit in January which was a very special time for all of us. We were able to visit the ruins in Palenque (see picture) as well as do other sight-seeing in and around San Cristobal.
The end of January we made one final trip to Cheranastico to work with the Purhepecha project. We had spent a week with this team in November, and it was great to be able to see the progress they had made in those three months. They are very close to completing the New Testament, which is scheduled to be printed this year. (The picture shows Brian working with four of the five translators.)
After a couple of long, very intense days of work with the Purhepecha team, we flew back home to Sioux Center, Iowa, on February 2. All of our flights went well, and we were able to be reunited with Jon, Lori, Alec, and Becky that same evening. (We'll make a trip to Ankeny to see David and Amy as soon as possible!) Just a few days after we got back, on February 5, our first grandchild was born! Alec and Becky had a beautiful baby boy, Tekoah Yates, here in Sioux Center. We are so excited and grateful that we could be here for this blessed occasion, and Grandpa couldn't be prouder!
We're planning to be in Iowa for the month of February so that Brian can work on visas for trips he'll be taking to Paraguay and Pakistan. In March Brian will be going first to Guyana and then to Paraguay. Rachel and I will not be accompanying him on either of these trips, nor to the translation workshop in Pakistan in April. This spring and summer the three of us will be traveling together again to projects in Alaska, Mexico, Curacao and Panama.
We ask for your prayers for Brian's visas, and that he will be able to get both of them without any problems or delays. We also appreciate your prayers as we re-acclimate to life in the U.S. Thanks for your support! Donna

Our Special Visitor

Last week my aunt Kim Kooima, my mom's sister, came to visit us.  Besides Bible Society people coming to work with my dad, she was our first visitor!  Yay!  During her week here, we went to Palenque for two days to see the ruins.  To get to Palenque, we rode a bus for almost six hours.  The day after we got there, we headed for the ruins.  It was a lot of walking around and climbing stairs, but it was very interesting and beautiful.  That's Kim in front of the Temple of Inscriptions.  The next day we went to the museum that was by the ruins.  We learned even more about the Maya culture.  There was a huge tomb of King Pakal that had a lot of carvings on it and it was pretty cool.
We took another bus back to San Cristobal.  This bus went very fast on the curves, and we got back in five hours!  Back in San Cristobal, we did touristy things.  We went to the markets, the Ambar Museum, different restaurants, climbed to the churches, and rode a tourist tram around the city (see the last picture).  We had a lot of fun with Kim, and we hope she enjoyed her time (and the food!) as well.
While she was here, I interviewed her about her first-time experience in Chiapas.  Here is what she had to say.
 
Q: (by Rachel) Hello. How are you enjoying your stay?
A: (by Kim) I'm loving it! The weather has been great. I'm also enjoying seeing a lot of new sights.

Q: What did you see here that you expected?
A: The tortillas, narrow and hilly streets, shops close together, and the green vegetation.

Q: What did you see here that surprised you?
A: I wasn't expecting to see all the villages, the different types of clothing, and the people here were quite short.

Q: What was your favorite food that you have had here?
A: The chilaquiles, breads, and pastries.

Q: What was the most interesting food?
A: Again, I'll have to say the chilaquiles, but I would like the recipe for that green stuff on my plate!

Q: What was the best part of the trip?
A: Getting to spend time with family, but the most exciting (tourist thing) was Palenque.

Q:  Were the different cultures and sceneries you saw interesting? Why, or why not?
A: Yes, because it's so different from what I'm used to. I felt like I was learning more and more about the culture.

Q: Were the ruins in Palenque fun to go to? Why, or why not?
A: Yes, they were really interesting, historically and also fun (but tiring!)

Q: What are some random facts you can tell us?
A: The sidewalks are not handicap accessible; the traffic is very wild; all the food here is very good and inexpensive. I really like going to the market; there was almost too much to see there! Everybody is trying to sell something; almost like everyone has their own little business.                               

Thanks again, Kim for coming and sharing the joy of Chiapas with us!    Rachel                     

General Oaxaca Stuff!

Last week we spent four days in Oaxaca.  We had a lot of fun there!  We stayed in the house of the translator my dad was working with.  Most of the days we had school.  Yes we still had full school.  :)  But my mom and I still had some time to walk around.
One day we went downtown to do some shopping and sight-seeing.  We went to 3 churches, 2 museums, and 1 market.  Our first stop was an anthropology museum in a former convent.  It was a huge museum!  I don't even think we saw everything in it.  Then we went to a very beautiful church. Almost all the decorations were gold or a gold color; it was very bright!   (Even though you can't see it in the picture, imagine the entire wall is bright gold.)

After a while we got hungry, so we went to Cinnabon. Yes, we were very cultural. ;)  The market we went to was very large! There were t-shirts, belts, food, and a lot of other things for sale.  One aisle of the market was filled with leather sandals and shoes.  There were a lot!!  We didn't buy any shoes, but we did buy grasshoppers (which is a popular food in Oaxaca), mole (sauce), a yarn belt, and some wooden bookmarks.
The second museum we went to was called The Palace Museum because it was in a former palace.  When we went in, they gave us a very generous portion of hand sanitizer.  We pretty much bathed our hands and arms with it, and soon after we were very sticky.  And we still had some left to wipe on our jeans.  It had the biggest tortilla in the world!  But you couldn't eat it.  This museum was very interactive.  The displays were about music, clothing, food, inventions, animals, languages, games around the world, and many others that we didn't get a chance to see.  I liked that you could learn a lot from the activities even though you didn't know Spanish perfectly.

The next day it rained, although apparently it hardly ever rains in January.  But we still went to some ruins on the top of a hill called Monte Alban.  This place was huge!  We were so high up that the clouds were like on the ground.  That was cool!  In the drizzle, we saw a lot of tombs, stone carvings of swimmers and dancers, and the ball court.  We learned that the ball court wasn't so much about sports as it was about religion.  I can't really express how large this place was and how tired I was from walking all around it and up the steep steps. 

Dia de los Reyes

There are many fascinating and interesting things about living in another culture. The people, of course, the language, food, history and customs. This past week we had the opportunity to learn more about a traditional Mexican custom. January 6 in the U.S. is Epiphany, and in Mexico it's called Dia de los Reyes, or Day of the Kings. It refers to the wise men who visited Mary, Joseph, and Jesus and presented Him with gifts. Even though I'm familiar with Epiphany, I can't say I've ever really celebrated it. In Mexico, however, Dia de los Reyes is a very important event. It's the day when children receive most of their presents, as opposed to Christmas Day.
A crucial part of the celebration is the Rosca. This colorfully decorated, oval-shaped bread is bought and shared by the family. During the days leading up to the Dia de los Reyes, the bakeries were over-flowing with stacks of Roscas. On the 6th of January, each person in the family gets to cut their own piece of the Rosca. Inside is hidden any number of tiny plastic dolls. If you're "lucky" enough to get a doll in your piece, the tradition says that you then have to supply tamales for everyone on February 2. Some people take this quite literally, spending a great time of time and money preparing tamales for friends and family.
Wednesday evening we celebrated the Day of the Kings in Oaxaca with the family we stayed with. Cosme, Isela and their daughters were gracious enough to not only invite us into their home, but to allow us to celebrate this custom with them as well. They granted me the privilege of making the first cut, and as luck would have it, I cut into one of the dolls. I invited the family to come to San Cristobal on February 2 for homemade tamales - not necessarily homemade by me, but by someone with more tamale expertise! Rachel also got a chance to cut her own piece of the Rosca as Isela and her daughters anxiously look on, but she didn't find a doll.
What an enjoyable experience as we continue to learn more about this fascinating country.