From Darkness to Light

Good morning.  It’s 7 a.m. on`June 5, 2008 here in Guatemala and the hurricane remnants from Mexico (actually Tropical Storm Arthur) continue to cause havoc in the Guatemala Highlands.  We are located just 15 minutes from Panajachel above Lake Atitlan and the rain continues. 

Yesterday say a brief let up of the downpours but last night the rain returned with a vengance and continues falling lightly this morning.  Although I heard reports of people in Panajachel located near the river sleeping in relatives houses for fear of a repeat of the Hurricane Stan disaster of 2005 (see the video) there was relatively little damage.

 … Continue reading

I Will Fear No Evil?

Written in Guatemala

July 16, 2006

Two weeks ago in Guatemala, I woke up one morning thinking about the 23rd Psalm. But I couldn’t get past the first verse:

Ps 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. It just sounded too simple. The Lord is the shepherd and I am one of his sheep. I follow him; he takes care of me. I follow him. He

Blackbird Brings Death?

If you haven’t read the first article in this series, Witch, Brujo or Bruja, Shaman, Demon; Satan’s Workers? it’s best to do it now.

To sum up, a man is telling of a story wherein a blackbird is fluttering outside his bedroom door and then a few nights later, actually enters the bedroom and flies around before being ushered out by the man’s wife. A baby bird is found a few days later and is brought into the house where it subsequently dies.

The story is interesting on its face but gets even more interesting as other details are added. The same man has a dinner where he has invited a doctor and… Continue reading | 7 Comments

Heart Attack -Go to the Hospital… Or the Church?

Why Me Lord?

Sometimes, as a matter of course, things break. Or more precisely, things go wrong. These last three weeks in Guatemala have been a perfect case in point. So many things that happened were not in the plan, or even changed the plan completely. Here is an incomplete list of some of the things:

The night we arrived we had an accident on the highway. Since we’ve been here it has rained almost daily. Several roads in the

Before you read this if you missed Hector’s Story Pt I click to read it.

Seems innocent enough doesn’t it? The writing on this sticker says “it’s not difficult to love me”. But look at the sticker. This sticker above is either a tiger or a cat. How would you describe it? It’s not a kitty or a passive cat. It has an evil look to it. I know, I can hear you now. Another conspiracy theory. But wait, hear me out.

When I took this home and began writing the story my 11-year-old daughter came in and I asked her about the sticker. Understand that in Guatemala, stickers are big deals… Continue reading

This was written from Guatemala in July of 2005

Well, another strange report from Guatemala! There seem to be so many lately. Anyway, it happened last night while I was working in the house with the lights out, inside and out, with only the light from the computer screen on. As I’m working on the computer with my headphones on I became aware of a cat, or at least what I thought was a cat, letting out the most unholy screech and then rumbling, kind of a growl. This has happened several times but there have been