- or at
least a bit about us and how we came to live in Guatemala and start a medical
clinic
We moved as a family to
Guatemala in April 1998, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. Gregory, Anita,
Daniel (13), Alan (12), Rachel (6) drove down in a 15-passenger van. Michael,
then 16, had moved there a few months earlier to work in the computer lab of a
small school in the town in which we chose to settle.
We felt prompted by God to
make this move, leaving a comfortable lifestyle near family and friends. We
didn't have to rush into another job right away, and this was an opportunity to
"do something different". We thought we'd go for a year and see what it was
like. Little did we know what was in store for us and that we wouldn't be
returning home for at least four years!
Through a supernatural set
of circumstances we connected with Cristina Landis who had worked with Greg a
few years earlier. Cristina lived ten minutes from our house in Pennsylvania,
but for awhile she had lived and worked in Guatemala in the small town of San
Lucas.
Cristina introduced us to
Lamar and Nancy Esbenshade of Ephrata, PA. I had met, but didn't really know,
Lamar but found out his daughter Jodie had married Julio Rodriguez, a pastor in
San Lucas, Guatemala ; Julio was also a director of a growing school. Our
connection to Guatemala was coming together quickly!
Lamar was taking a work
team to San Lucas in a few weeks to help build an addition to the school - and
there was room for one more person. Greg went on that trip a mere four weeks
after first feeling The Call to go to Guatemala.
Greg really liked
Guatemala, and Anita and Michael (then 16), came along for a follow-up nine-day
visit in September. Anita got very sick on the last day of that visit and wasn't
sure she ever wanted to return! But after two weeks she, too, decided that it
was A Good Thing and was in agreement to move to Guatemala as a family.
Michael also fell in love
with Guatemala on that trip and asked permission to move there ahead of us. He
moved to San Lucas on December 31, 1997 and began teaching in the school's
computer lab in January.
All Aboard - We Drive to Guatemala in a Van
By April 1998 we were ready to move. We packed the family and as many personal
belongings as we could fit in a big van, placed the pets with good friends,
rented out our house and drove to Guatemala!
The 12-day trip included a
stop at The Revival at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, a visit with
the Richard Malm Family in Kerrville, Texas (CommissionTEN),
The Lazy Hills Ranch, Texas - where the
Steinruck Family were so gracious to us and gave us a free stay - and, various
archeological sites in Mexico.
We arrived at the border of
Guatemala the night of April 18, 1998 after a late-night
hair-raising
experience through the Chiapas, Mexico area which was then in
chaos with fighting between the police and the residents.
We
Made It - The Adventure Begins
The excitement and variety of life in Guatemala started almost as soon as we
arrived April 19th and moved in to the house Michael had arranged for us to
rent. We couldn't move in for two days, though, because the owners had not kept
their promise to move out!
On May 4th, Volcano Pacaya
erupted after 28 years of dormancy, covering San Lucas in a fine dust. The city
and airport received so much ash fallout that the airport was closed for four
days.
Then the following week we
experienced our first minor earthquake. We also found out what it was like to
(a) drive on highways were the drivers don't obey any rules, (b) where animals
and people are apt to wander on the highway at any time; (c) see armed guards
with shotguns at McDonalds, convenience stores, banks, shopping centers and even
schools; (d) live without any hot water; (e) wonder when the electricity would
go off next, (f) experience many military/police roadblocks (g) live with
unreliable telphone service. (At that a time it took at least two years to get a
new phone line!)
We arranged for two Spanish
teachers to come to our house six hours a day for seven weeks to teach Spanish
to our family. (We did learn basic communications, but we should have kept the
lessons to four hours a day for perhaps sixteen weeks.)
We became quite busy helping the little church and school in San Lucas in a
variety of ways as needed. And then the event arrived that changed our plans,
our lives and ignited our vision - Hurricane Mitch.
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