The Kinneys write that they have found a truck and a family car, but are still house hunting. Their previous term of service placed them in rural western Guatemala and now they are located in of Guatemala City.

They are hoping to find a home outside the city. “We are really wanting to be a bit away from the city and have a bit of a yard,” write the Kinneys, “and have room to have people stay over if they need a place on their way to the airport.”

In the meantime the family is in a temporary apartment for another ten days.

The FInleys attended the Vernacular Media Specialist training course at JAARS in Waxhaw NC. last year. JAARS is the technical and support base of Wycliffe Bible Translators.

After returning to Guatemala, they set about putting that title to use. One of their first projects was recording two booklets: "Who is Jesus?" and "The Good News Message."  They two booklets were translated from Spanish into Uspanteco by fellow LBT Missionary Margie McMillen, and language specialists Cristobal and Miguel.

This particular project is designed to help the new readers to be able to follow along in the text as they listen to the words.

In an e-mail entitled "Solidarity!" Pastor Paz reports that everyone was physically unharmed, but he is concerned about the pyschological trama on his family.

"Thank God," writes Paz, "we were unhurt physically, however psychologically we were affected, especially my daughter Scarlet"

Wednesday was Scarlet's 13th birthday.

The armed men stole Paz's vehicle and all the keys to the church and day school. The vehicle is owned by the church.

"I wanted to write you so that you can share [this news] with your church," writes Paz. "We know we have many brothers and sisters around the world who love us. May God bless and protect you!"

Pastor Paz is President of the Lutheran Church in Guatemala and pastor of Christ the Savior Lutheran Church in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala.

In exchange for one gun, the government is giving corrugated roofing sheets. Two guns are worth a bicycle and three will earn a sewing machine.

Since the signing the 1996 peace accord ending a 36-year long civil war, Guatemalans have seen a growing level of violent crime, from street muggings to revenge killings. Some observors claim personal security today is as bad or worse than during the war.

On June 4 surgeons opened Erin's leg and drained an abcess, the likely source of the fever, and are now determining if the infection has spread to other parts of Erin's body.

The doctors also detected a slight heart mumor and are hoping this is an unrelated issue.

Erin will be in the hostpital for the next two-three weeks undergoing rigorous antibiotic treatments. Over the past several months Erin has undergone two surgeries to remove reoccuring fibromatosis tumor, from her leg.

Erin is the daughter of LBT Missionaries Paul and Tammy Kinney presently in St. Paul, Minnesota and plan to return to service in Guatemala later this summer.

“Hi!  May I take your picture?” 
“No.”
“Would you like this?”
“What is it?”
“It’s a book about Jesus.”
“Jesus? Save it for someone else.  I already heard about him.”