The problem is that the cocodes know their power and are deceitful and self-serving at the expense of anyone else. We have tried to steer clear of most of these guys and not get ourselves involved. The vice-president who has been in jail more times than I can count has robbed us personally of thousands of quetzales. He is now going around the entire community and trying to take pieces of people's land. The people here are poor and uneducated and don't know the difference. Men (and women) come to our gate ALL the time asking us for work. This puts us in a difficult situation because of course there is not work for everyone and we can't just hire just anyone. Lots of men have reputations for being thieves and we can't take that risk either. Then comes the cocodes asking us for work telling us that we told them in our first year there that one way we hope to bring support to the community is finding jobs for some people, be it construction jobs or other. And they tell us they trusted us when we said that, but they have never received a job. But they have. And one robbed us. Apart from that we have given jobs to dozens and dozens of men from the community - just not to them personally.
So 5:45am on Sunday morning two guys with evil smiles on their faces come to our gate and Baby, our new guard dog, goes crazy. We find out that they want to gather all the neighbors and meet us down at the bottom where we just poured the footing of the wall that we are required to build by the government. One guy who had asked for work long ago was really mad and was instigating everything. The other guy had been, for some time, bullying Julio our main worker telling him he was looking for a way to get him fired. The workers we do have go through a lot within their social circles to maintain jobs here. Just last week, Mayda cried to me as she told me some women were gossiping about her because they were jealous that she has worked here for so long. Anyway, as we get down there where the men had gathered all the neighbors from their sleep and were trying to rile them up, he was saying our wall was too close to the road and we were going to need to fix this now. We are talking about $3,000 worth of work here. And then from up the road comes the evil and conniving vice-president with a smile on his face. When he began by being so super sweet to us, we know these guys were up to no good. So we told them we would figure out what needed to be done and we would make it right because it is not our intentions to hurt the community by being too close to the road. We had left minimum 3.5 meters from the center of the road, but they were measuring from the neighbors fence which was, shockingly (sarcastic), put right on the road.....like everyone else's fences, walls, stores, and houses, including the men who were standing there accusing us.
So yesterday we call the cocode of the other community - our property is the border of two communities - and the president comes and says they want 8 meters of road, 4 meters from the center-line to our block. Okay, even though NO BODY else has 4 meters, we will tear up the last 6 meters of footing and make it right. Thank God they didn't want more. So yesterday I called the president of the other community also to come and he comes at 6pm but doesn't even want to see the wall. He just wanted to spend 45 minutes talking about why we haven't given him any work. Then he wanted to see the children's home and said he would like us to hire him when it is time to do the floor upstairs. There is a conflict and risk there for us because we hire the president of the community and he doesn't do a good job and we have to fire him then we have lost his support in everything from there forward. He was not interested in what the other guys were doing to us because he was on board with it from the beginning - they don't give me work, we will cause them problems.
So today as I read and prayed early this morning, I prayed that instead of moving mountains, God would move the hearts of these greedy men. If our prayer in faith can move a MOUNTAIN, it can surely move a man's heart. Power goes out. The angry man knocks at the gate. I go down. He is very nice and says that he would ask that I please do not call the other community that we would resolve this with just their community and that he is so sorry for the bother etc etc. Fishy, I know. He didn't know we had resolved it with the other community yesterday. We walk down to a mob of people and I am praying the whole way. They had definitely come with bad intentions to gain something for nothing. I asked that if before they started, if I could please say a word to everyone. They gathered closely and I began to tell them that when they all see us they may think we are rich, white people who are building this huge castle with all kinds of money to spend. What they don't know is that that is quite the opposite. Geoffrey and I and the baby live in a space smaller than the majority of their houses and we work ourselves to death, seemingly literally, and not for one cent. That we left our jobs, homes, and families to come to them and we did it for the Lord. That the castle they see is being built by churches and believers and other generous hearts in the US that send donations to us. That that castle is a shelter for the poorest children in their department, for the ones who have no family, no house, nothing. For girls who find themselves pregnant and are rejected. For babies who are left in the hospital unwanted. For kids whose parents hurt them and they have no where safe to go. This is what that castle is for. It is for many of them. I told them we cant just give work to every single person who comes by, sometimes we don't have money, sometimes the association chooses other people, but we do help in other ways though. How much have we supported the two schools? The water tank? The poorest of the poor among them? And we want to see that for many years to come. And somewhere in me telling them all that I started crying and once that happened - the bad men looked to the ground. I think their hearts moved from here to there. So we began to pull lines and take measurements and they begin to tell us that everything was okay with our wall. The only change they wanted was the last 6 meters, just like the other guy. We were okay with that. Then they said we can make a vote right now so that we are all in agreement and you don't have to tear up anything. They called the people together and I stopped them and said, "No. We don't want to vote to leave it. If it is not in accordance with the law, we prefer to break it up and move it." Shocked the man nodded. I knew he was going to do us a "favor" and then in return he would want a "favor" from us - probably work or money. I also knew that in 5 years we will have another Cocode and they will probably be just as corrupt and could come and tell us to tear down the whole wall. The main guy who instigated all this looked like he wanted to cry - his plan didn't work out. And now he knew there'd be no chance in the world for him to work with us.
Anyway it was resolved, with maximum stress, but resolved. We will break up about 7 meters. Then the president looks at me and says, "Don't forget what we talked about." Meaning, "You better give me work."
I went to the municipality the day before and spoke with the people who regulate all the land, but they said that they have no jurisdiction where we are, only the Cocode does. I also met with the one person in the whole community who I know loves the Lord with all her heart, the only woman I trust here in the community. She prayed with me and then told me about the three new houses going up in the community right now, one right in front of the school. They are three Zeta families and one moved here because they had killed another family in the last community but needed to leave and find somewhere else to live so the authorities would not look for them. I have seen strange men about in the community lately carrying big guns on their belts and thought it was weird. Now I understand what is going on.
When you can't request the help of the government, when your only authorities are corrupt and deceitful, when you can't count on men - you remember you have only One Help and only One Hope. I lift my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the MAKER of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel (me, my family, our ministry) will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you - the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
I'm not scared nor worried - so don't be scared or worried for me. I am just stressed and tired. But when I am weak - He is strong. May His strength shine through and may we continue to move forward.
And if any of you want to come and live down here forever with us and take on half of our responsibilities - like we say here in Guatemala, con mucho gusto! I will be glad to share my load and my blessings. Pray for workers of the harvest to RISE up. Jesus is coming back and we can't waste anymore time or make anymore excuses.
Thank you all for your words of encouragement, your thoughts and your prayers over the past few days. We need them so much!
Love,
Jenna
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