Hello friends!
The harvest season
is petering to a halt, and I (Ben) am alive and mostly in one piece. Did
we mention we are having a baby? We are having a baby!!!! If you have
never seen a baby yawn on a 3D ultrasound: it is so cute you want to
eat it!
Also, we got to see
my Momma and step-dad this weekend after their grueling 10 hour trek
through nightmarish Seattle traffic. Awesome greasy burgers and
gelato were had by all. It was joyous.
I have had the
privilege of making friends with a chemical engineering student who
is planning on joining us in the near future to help with solutions
to stabilizing products on their way to market. I also met a produce farmer
who worked in the Peace Corps in Guatemala around the same time as
another Christian organization(Agros) which started in the very same
place (The Ixil Triangle, if you want to know) to empower farmers to
own their own land and become financially independent.
Also, I have
discovered a refrigerator made of clay (the Mitticool, from India)
that functions off of water evaporation and requires ZERO
electricity. That’s right.
In addition, I will be meeting with a
few friends who are tech savvy to piece together a prototype power
production model for the village. In theory, we can produce power far
in excess of the village needs and this means a stable platform to
host translators.
Keep in mind we won’t be hosting folks on day
two. Goal one is to learn the language and make connections while
learning about their felt needs and unexpressed ones too. We also
want to ask a mountain of questions about expectations, culture, and
their own plans for how to accomplish these goals.
On that note, it is
rather strange to shift one’s perspective from a technician’s
mindset (I am the best, therefore I shall do it...NOW!) to an
advisor’s mindset (I move based on YOUR direction). This might be
the lynchpin of frustration AND excitement. All of us, not just Mary
and I, have to remember that cultural expectations could be VERY
different, and Christ’s model was always invitation (whether He
angered Pharisees or not is beside the point). Therefore, we have to
come humbly and without pretense to ASK how we can help. Tough...very
tough for our culture. It is a stretch goal for us as Christians that
Christ wants us to grow into so we can look at following Him through
the lens of multiple paths (not doctrinally, just culturally).
Thank you, each of
you reading this, for taking the time to look into our lives and see
what Christ is doing with us in this season. May He guide you like He
guides us: Absolute certainty even in total darkness!
In His Grace,
The Grimm Horde
