ILE Graduation 12/14/07

We arrived in Guatemala City on the 15th Sat & if we look happy, we are. As of now, we are staying in the Arkansas House until our crate arrives, we are told it should be here around the 1st of Jan), and we are able to get into the place we will be renting. Our first trip is the 5th of January, so not sure how that timeline will work yet. Believe it or not, it is cold here in Guatemala; colder than Costa Rica, because it is higher elevation, about 5,000 feet, compared to CR, which is 3,500 feet. Things are a little different here. Also, I think the people are, but I will find out as we become more acclamated.

Red Letter Day - Graduation Day at ILE - Just a few of our friends who graduated with us. Most are leaving for their assigned countries the next day. Praise the Lord for perseverence; it was His provision that kept & sustained us for the last 14 months.

Keith at graduation with his teachers - they are as happy as he is!

This is Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica, just one of the beautiful beaches here & we are very sad to leave this beautiful country. Not only for that reason, but the wonderful friends we have made. Of course, most of them are leaving, but there are many who have come in the last 3 months & we must say goodbye to them. This is the last week; Graduation is Friday. Saturday we leave for Guatemala so we are in the midst of some utter chaos in packing. Of course, we have more than we imagined we could accumulate in 14 months here.
New address is: Keith & Glenna Bartley
Apartado 1135
01901 Guatemala City,
Guatemala
Central America

Thought you might want to see all our M's in Costa Rica. The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful family. We had a great time with Calvin & Deborah Morris this weekend. They gave us much encouragement & good teaching. We are down to only 2 more weeks here. It will be somewhat difficult to leave this crew that we have been with for the last year and a half.

Man in Tierra Blanca.

I cannot help but be fascinated with the flowers here; they just grow wild & they are soooo beautiful. This reminds me of the verse in the Bible Luke 12:27 "Consider the lilies, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin & yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Jesus said this & added - "if then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field & tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, of you of little faith?" Can you imagine!

Thought you might be interested in seeing the typical dress for Catholic First Communion. Average age is around 8 years old; and they celebrate all day long, it is quite an event here; we see many.

Pastor Oscar on the left & Francisco are the ones we worked with in Bocaron & Tierra Blanca; they have such a heart to take the gospel to the people there; it was wonderful to be with them & I wish you could have heard Francisco's testimony - abandoned in a field when he was 2 years old & a policeman heard him crying; took him to an orphanage; he ran away when he was 7 & was on the streets until 17; a pastor's wife began to minister to him & now he has such a heart to minister to others. Pray for them.

We were privileged to go with a team from Park View Bapt in Alabama to evangelize in Tierra Blanca de Cartago to help with translating from Friday morning through Monday the 2-5 of November. This is our first experience at translating for a team. Both Keith and I learned a great deal as well as having a great time and making new friends from the US and Costa Rica.

Family & School in Costa Rica

Addie & Jon - thought you might want to see a real cutie! No she's not in Costa Rica, but I wish she were, right now! We can't wait to see her in person; although, she did talk to me on the phone today!

Tarantulas are very common here & kept as pets, but I said NO, No-way, ho-say! They are not very friendly looking to me.

I think he said his cousin, Venny, was the famous one on tv; he was a little hard to understand, talking spanish very fast, but Keith thought he understood. I'm still not used to them being house guests here. They are soooo fast, they are impossible to catch!

Yes, he/she is real & there are much larger ones (iguanas) here - they look prehistoric to me, but they are so tame kids go right up & pet them - I am not a kid!

Our friends, Gary & Marcella, in front of Arenal, the 3rd most active volcano in the world. We stayed in a hotel just below & at night you could see the red lava flowing & hear it rumble down the mountain.

They don't go swimming in the river here - at least, more than once. This particular place was a breeding ground for them - I lost count of how many were there. We were standing on a bridge far above them.

Thought you might want to see our 3rd home in Costa Rica. This one is much closer to the school; just behind it & there are 3 apartments here. We are the 3rd so not as close to this busy street here, which can be very noisy from the traffic. We will be here, probably, until sometime in Dec, where after Graduation, we will leave for Guatemala! It is hard to believe we will be starting our 3rd semester in school. God has given us a determination, persistence & willingness to do this because we believe it is what He has put in front of us to do!

Our 2nd trip was to Tortuga Island. Not named Turtle Island because of the turtles, but because the island looks like a turtle. We were looking forward to snorkeling there, however, while getting out of the boat into the water, my left shoulder popped out of joint. We were on the backside of nowhere & it took 7 hours to get me back to the hospital on Puntarenas. Not a good story to tell, except, the Lord did take care of us in ways I was not aware of at the time - Gracias a Dios! I still am looking foward to snorkeling - somewhere in CR!

School does not begin again until Sept 4th, so, in wanting to see as much of Costa Rica as possible, we had 2 trips planned. This one is Manuel Antonio. Much of this area is mountainous & will remind you a lot of the Smokies. There are only 2 hotels close to the beach; others are on the cliffs with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean. We were looking forward to snorkeling, but the earthquake in Peru altered the weather there and it rained a lot in the afternoons, but the mornings were wonderful.

August 15th was Graduation for many whom we will miss terribly this next tri, but change is constant in the life of a missionary. Many will go to their country of assignment, or back home for a short time, then on to where God has called them. It is exciting to see them hold the flag of their country. I'm glad they didn't quit - we saw how many could have, but, by God's grace, they didn't! They stood firm & strong & have influenced us who remain.

We have just finished our 2nd trimester of school & much has happened in those 3 months. Beginning in May, we had our 1st grandbaby girl 'Addison Grace' born in OK to our oldest son, Jonathan & Eva. She is beautiful & we are very blessed. We also found out our youngest son, Joshua & Stephanie, will have their 1st baby & our 2nd grandbaby boy 'Andrew Pete' in Jan '08; a big surprise to us all. We could not be more pleased. Just 3 weeks ago, we moved again into an apartment. It is much smaller than the house we were in, but, it is much closer to the school. Because we have only a tourist visa, we had to go out of the country for the 1st time to renew & so we chose the country of Panama. It took 7 hrs to travel by bus & the picture is of the bridge we had to cross at the border, which was a real experience for all 38 of us. Then, last week, we have had our country of destination changed from El Salvador to Guatemala. We have much peace about this & feel that is the place where God would have us to go. Many factors were involved in the change & we feel that God is in control of it all.

Addison Grace Bartley - our first grandchild. We do appreciate Jon & Eva for her, but she does favor her grandparents who live in CR right now! She was born in OK, May 11 at 8.5 lbs & 21 in. We have talked with her several times on the phone & I believe I heard her cry for Papaw & Nana, at least it was clear enough for us. We are very grateful God has allowed us to live long enough to see her. OK is very blessed now!

Inside the black gate; we are trying to spruce it up a bit with some flowers. Inside is a small living & dining complete with a galley kitchen (room for 1). On the back porch is my washer & dryer (the clothes are hung out because electricity is very expensive in CR). We have 2 bedrms & an office; also a full bath. We feel as if we are in a mansion, going from 1 room to all this. We could not be happier, except, maybe in OK!

For the last 6 months, we have lived with a Tico family in CR. We now have our own house & yes, that is razor wire on the top. It is very secure & safe. Beside of us is a daycare; in front is a Chinese restaurant; on the corner is a meat market where we get very fresh meat as needed. The veggies & fruit are delicioso. School is about a 7 minute walk. We leave at 6:30 in the morning to greet all the teachers & students coming in. Others join us & we are called the 'Sunshine Club'.