March in Guatemala....

I can't believe it is March already, well actually mid-March! WOW! Time sure flies! We are loving the sun, warm weather and life in general here in Guatemala. We had my parents down, my Dad joined my mom here a month ago, and have enjoyed their company and were so thankful for their help and encouragment while with us. They returned to Canada this past week:(
The last month and a bit we have been busy with working at Shadow of His Wings; Steve doing construction/maintenance projects, while I have been organizing and planning teams. We had our annual party to celebrate the 9 girls who turned 15 years old, called "Quinceanera"!

It is a huge traditional celebration here in Guatemala to celebrate girls turning into young women. At Shadow, we give them a ring to symbolize purity and share with them the importanace of seeing themselves as valuable, precious, and pure, no matter what thier pasts have been. There is also a ceremony where their House Mom takes off thier old shoes and puts on new ones to symbolize becoming a woman. It was an incredible night of celebration and one night that many of the girls thought they would never have before coming to Shadow. Such a blessing and gift from many people who helped contribute towards the night.
A few weeks ago our family (including my parents)went out to a community we love just to visit and spend some time with them. We love the people and they are our friends. We brought with us three puzzles and the kids just loved them. The last time I visited was with the CLA Women's Team who did a VBS there and I remember seeing the kids do puzzles for the first time ever-even a girl who must have been 14-15 years old who had never seen or done a puzzle. This place, Flor del Cafe, is where Steve helped build a roof for the school and also where CLA's women's and men's teams have visited.

Flor del Cafe is doing great and they mentioned that a church from a nearby City, Jalapa, has begun some Bible classes with them which they are enjoying very much, a (connection thanks to Betty Merida and those from her church in Guatemala City). Great news!
Since January we have had a Guatemalan girl living with us as well. She is 19 and in her last year of schooling to become an elemantary school teacher. She is like one of the family and we are just loving on her and trying to be good examples to her of Christ and His love for her. She is a very special girl to us. Her past has had many changes, challenges, and big adjustments, but we are praying and hoping to see God continue to heal, restore, and fulfill His promises in and through her life! With Christ all things are possible!

At the end of February I was invited to speak at a Missions event at my home church, Christian Life Assembly, for a group of about 200 women. This was my first speaking engagement, which was stretching but such a great blessing to me. I love to share about what God has done in my life and how He brought my family and I to Guatemala. It was a great opportunity to share about what God is doing in Guatemala, some of what we've learned, and to challenge the women to seek out God's purpose in their lives, that they each have gifts and talents, and to do something about it! It was a quick trip, busy time, but such a gift to me to be able to visit with our families, my friends, and church family too! Thank you CLA!
Just wanted to touch base and keep you updated on what we've been up to recently! Blessings to you all and thank you!
Anna and Steve (and the kids)

Jan. 2012 Update

Lindberg Update- January 2012

Back in Guatemala since mid January has felt like coming back home...our other home! It has been such a joy to see all our friends, “family”, and neighbours again after being in Canada for Christmas. We came to Monjas, the town we live in, and enjoyed setting up a home-school room for our kids and getting settled back into our normal routine here. My mom came with us this time and is going to be with us for two months. She is such a blessing and help to us! We have already enjoyed many tasty treats, some new curtains, games and puzzles with Mormor (what our kids call my Mom; the Swedish name for Grandma).
Our days have been full up with our kids in their Spanish school, homeschooling, Steve working at Shadow of His Wings Orphanage with construction and maintenance projects, and myself learning and starting my new role of Team and Visitor Coordinator. It has been busy, but so good to feel useful, productive and always learning new things. We love it here and are excited to see God use us in different ways and in things that are new to us....which is a great adventure.
Since being back we have explored a new place called “Pina Dulce” which means Sweet Pine. It was about an hour and a half away and set in amongst beautiful green mountain ranges. The views were incredible and the air so cool and refreshing. We went with some of our friends from Monjas and brought with us a packed lunch. Once we got there and had looked around we hiked down about a km to a little river with a waterfall and ate our lunch. It was really pretty and different from what we are used to seeing in British Columbia, but still a beautiful place. The hike back up was a challenge, but felt so good. The kids loved it and were so proud of themselves for hiking the whole way up and quite quickly too.

We have also reconnected with some of our friends from Monjas, including our neighbours. Only a few days after returning we found out one of the boys was having his birthday. So we had a little birthday party for him and had some cake and played a few games too It was a great night together and so amazing to see the joy on his face! He is a great young man! Steve continues to have biblestudy with some of his friends from town and plays soccer every thursday night with a group of young men from town too!

So we look ahead to what else God has in store for us here at Shadow of His Wings and also in the community we live in. We hope to live out God’s call on our lives as a family, to love, encourage, and share the love of Christ to those around us. He is so good to us and has blessed us with so much and we are thankful for the opportunity to be here to serve in different ways! Thank you all for your prayers, emails, encouragement and partnership! We couldn’t be here without people like you cheering us along and being a part of it all! Thank You!
Steve and Anna Lindberg (Jenna, Rachel, Elijah and Noah)

Email- the6lindbergs@gmail.com
Address in Guatemala-
Steve and Anna Lindberg
c/o Proyecto Santiago de Latinoamerica
Finca Yalu
Monjas, Jalapa
Guatemala, 21006

Tax-deductible contributions may also be directed through Christian Life Assembly. Please include on a memo line: Shadow of His Wings (Lindbergs).
Christian Life Assembly
21277 56Ave
Langley, B.C.
V2Y 1M3
Canada
604-530-7344

November Lindberg Update

Hi there family and friends! I can’t believe it is almost December already, which means we have almost been here for a year! Who would have thought….well here we are. I really wanted to write all of you and let you know what is new with us and what we have been up to here in Guatemala. So here is an update of the last few months.
Steve has been busy helping at Shadow of His Wings Orphanage with construction projects, maintenance of buildings and grounds, and also working with teams putting together projects for them. He loves to work with the teams organizing things for them to do and getting to know them. There have been teams from Missouri, Arkansas, Langley (full of his buddies from Christian Life Assembly), and many more to come. The last team Steve worked with, made a huge playground for the kids at the Orphanage to enjoy….it is big wooden structure with slides, swings, and more. It was a big project that Steve put a lot of time and effort into helping make sure it was ready to go and it went off without a hitch! Steve also does many things with our kids, like going for swims at the local pool, outings around the area, and playing in the house. Another passion and love Steve has here in our little town is spending time with some friends he has made here. He meets with around 3-5 guys each Tuesday reading the Bible, teaching, challenging each other, and encouraging one another in the things of God. When Steve began this around March, the three guys that came where from Catholic background and not believers. Now the guys are all either close to accepting Christ as Lord and Saviour or already have. IT is very exciting and they are such great friends to us and we love to spend time with them. Steve also plays soccer with a group of 10-15 guys every Thursday night….some are guys he works with at Shadow and others are guys from town. This has given Steve a big opportunity to build friendships and a chance to have fun and exercise too!
The last few months, we have had Hannah Rempel living with us. She is a family friend and used to babysit for us back home before we moved here. I felt led to email Hannah about 5-6 months ago to see if she was interested in living with us while the kids were on summer break from school here in Monjas. The school year runs from January to October in Guatemala, which meant our kids would be off all day and yet Steve and I had lots to do during the days. Hannah joined us here in Sept. and is here until mid-Dec. when we all head back to Canada for a break. She has helped us tremendously with the kids, home-school work, and just a great friend to have live with us. I am really going to miss her, as will our kids! She has learned a lot of Spanish in her time here already and the kids at the orphanage love having her here as well. We will miss Hannah!
I have been super busy in the last few months, as I am transitioning into a new role here at Shadow. My role for the last 6-8 months has been helping out with the Sponsorship Program at Shadow. I have helped make, organize, and send out mail-outs every two-three months from the kids to their sponsors. I also was in charge of giving out the gifts and letters from sponsors to their sponsor child and emailing a photo of the child receiving it. It has been a great blessing and privilege to be a part of helping with the program and seeing the kids faces when I get to give them something from their sponsor; what JOY it brings them and me too I am thankful for the many things I have learned and to able to work with the sponsorship director, Vanessa Priest. Thankfully the program has seen a huge increase and we are almost at the place where each child has full sponsorship (one of my dreams for this year)! So exciting!
A new development in the last couple months is that Steve and I (with agreement of our kids) feel that our time here is not yet done. We have felt very clearly that we need to stay here and have committed to another year. This comes with much joy, expectancy, excitement, and yet a bit of sadness as we miss all of you back home in Canada. God is in control and knows the plans He has for us, which are the best for us. Part of these plans, are that Steve and I will be in charge of teams who come to Shadow as of the new year. This entails a lot of work in preparing, emailing, organizing transportation, projects, activities, and communicating with people here about what they will be doing, ect. The job description is long, detailed, but quite exciting for Steve and I because we love to work with people. Our passion is to love the kids at Shadow, share the heart of this place, and reach out to other Guatemalans with the love of Christ. It is a big change with a lot of responsibility, but we feel like it is what we are called to do here in this next season. Steve will continue to help with building, maintenance of buildings/property, and other construction projects.
As I write this, I remember how our journey to get here began and how FAITHFUL God has been through it all. He has been with us every step of the way and has taught us so much about who He is and who we are in Him. The times that have been challenging in this first year on the mission field have molded our characters and stretched us, but that is such a good thing. I am so thankful for the opportunity for us as a family to be here in Guatemala serving people for him! It is all for his glory! I was thinking this morning before writing this of a scripture; Matthew 24: 40 “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” We want to live this out and help others, encourage, share, and support as though we are doing it all for Christ! He is why we are here and He called us to love those who He puts in our path.
For another year we will serve and work to the best of our ability as a family here in Monjas, Guatemala. If you want more information or just want to send us an email, please do so. We love to hear from people and it is encouraging to hear about what is going on in your lives as well. We do ask that you please continue to lift us up in prayer and support while we continue on this journey here in Monjas and at Shadow of His Wings. We love you all, appreciate all the support, encouragement, and giving from so many of you back home. THANK YOU and you are in our hearts and we are forever grateful!
Steve, Anna, Jenna, Rachel, Elijah, and Noah Lindberg
Some prayer requests:
- To keep our marriage and family strong, close and united!
- That we would make a positive impact wherever we go!
- That God would continue to provide for our practical needs.
- On Jan.8th at Christian Life Assembly we are sharing briefly.
Contact Info:
Email: the6lindbergs@gmail.com
Blog: www.the6lindbergs.blogspot.com
Facebook: Shadow Of His Wings Orphanage
*If you want to partner with us financially, please contact the missions department at Christian Life Assembly, as all funding goes through them (604-530-7344). You can make tax-deductable contributions through C.L.A on their website- www.clachurch.com and go to online giving; missions; other; and then write in the comments “Lindberg Guatemala Projects”. *

Kids Birthdays in another Country!

We four children and three of them have just had their birthdays this last month. It is the first time we have had a family birthday in another country and we did what we could to make it special, fun, and memorable for each one. Elijah was the first to have his birthday here in Guatemala. I had prepared what I could in bringing things from home to make it special; for example the cake mix, chocolate mousse mix and skor bars to make our favorite cake for birthdays "Death by Chocolate", streamers, and balloons. I also bought a few little gifts for each one that I knew they would like from back home. Elijah got a Hero Factoy toy and lego. I made cupcakes for his class at school here. He got to pick where we went for dinner and if he wanted anyone to come. He picked Dominoes which is 30 minutes from our house and he wanted a few of our neighbour kids to come. It was great and we had such a fun time. Simple yet so fun.

Jenna was the next one to have a birthday, only one week later. We put up some new decorations for her in the house, I made cupcakes for her class (different of course then Elijah's), and she got to pick where to go for dinner as well. She picked Dominoes but with only our family. I liked it that it was just us and we had such a nice time. We were so full from dinner we could barely eat up our dessert, which was Death by Chocolate. Jenna wanted the neighbour kids to come for cake, which they loved! The gift Jenna got from us was a new watch. She then gave her old watch to one of the neighbour friends. He liked it as it was blue and sporty. Jenna also recieved a few things from friends back home. Such a great day.

Two weeks later it was Noah's birthday! 3 years old already! WOW! He had been asking everyday since Elijah's birthday if it was his birthday...he even would sing "Happy Birthday" to himself. All Noah wanted and cared about for his birthday and for weeks he was asking us, was a bike. He has never had a bike and he learned one sunday at Shadow of His Wings when he borrowed another boy's bike. Almost everyday when he asked when his birthday was, he said "my birthday, my want a bike". Super cute! Well, Steve got him a bike at a Market in Antigua the weekend before his birthday. I don't think he has really gotten off it since! He loves it! He rides it throughout our house, which thankfully is tile, and out to the back cement area in the backyard. The bike only has handbrakes, which he figured out how to use in the first 30 minutes of riding. He seems so big on it as he flies by. His birthday was fun....it started after his nap with a scavenger hunt throughout the house finding clues and then candy, we went to a different restaurant with the neighbour kids, our friends with their two kids came over with a pinata, and then cake to top it all off. Noah was so hyper and excited from all the sugar, he was just running, jumping and almost bouncing off the walls.

When it was all said and done, I was exhausted. A lot of my time in the last month was to try and make sure my kids had great days and felt special even though we were away from family and friends on their birthdays. I think they all were happy and felt loved and really that is all that matters. My fears that they would be sad, disappointed or upset, were eliminated each time as my kids had great days and didn't ever mention they were sad, upset or missing being at home. Thank the Lord! I was amazed at how kids really just want to know they are loved and special, and the day can be simple and they love it! Now I can enjoy looking back! I am so proud of my kids and thankful for who they are and how they have handled living in another country away from our families and friends. They really are great kids!

An earthquake!

An earthquake hit Guatemala a few days ago in a Department near us. A department is ike a Province in B.C. but much smaller or like a State in the US. I was in the office and felt my chair move a bit and thought to myself it was an earthquake. I asked someone else in the office if they felt anything and he said "no". I thought for sure I had felt something but then maybe it was just my chair. About half an hour later after picking up the kids from school we drove to our friends house to pick Noah up and they asked us right away if we felt the earthquake. There had been another one, while we were driving, and it was a bigger one. We didn't feel that one. Hannah, who is living with us for three months to help us out, was at home and said she felt the bed move. We were all safe and sound. Everone and everything in our town was ok. NO problems, no power outages, no injuries.
Here are some of the stats regarding the earthquakes from Monday Septemeber 19th:
12:00- 4.8
12:34- 5.8
13:17- 4.8
14:30- 4.5
18:22- 4.3
22:30- 5.8
The ones I felt were at 12 and then at 10:30pm. Hannah and our friends felt the 12:34 one. Otherwise we didn't really notice or feel the others. Thankfully! In the Department, Santa Rosa, where the epicenter of the quake was, 3 people died due to a house collapsing and a mudslide. The authorities do not believe there is anything further to worry about. An incident that is sad and we will need to be in prayer for those family members and friends who lost dear ones. We are thankful we are safe and that no others were injured or killed. So if you were wondering or heard about the earthquakes, there you go. That is as much info as I have. We love you all and feel safe and thankful. All we can do is pray, trust God, and be wise.

Some time off....

Just wanted to write about a few things we experienced while in Canada for four weeks. We had to leave Guatemala, due to the visa regulations (having to leave the country every 6 months), and so we headed back home. The kids were so excited to see all their cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and of course some of their friends. It was great for Steve and I to be able to visit, catch up with people and also share about all our experiences in Guatemala from the previous 6 months.
Some things we did while back home:
-spoke at church, went to an incredible wedding of friends of ours in Edmonton (just Steve and I, which was so refreshing and fun), celebrated each of our kids birthdays, went to the beach, went for walks and played at the parks near where we used to live, had doctor and dentist appointments, ect. and lots of fun times visiting!
We were so blessed by everyone and realized how truely blessed we really are. So many great people and support in our lives! Thanks to everyone who took the time to be with us, encourage us, and pray for us. We love you all! If we didn't get to see you, we still value and appreciate you so much. We know we could not be where we are without a team of people around us.
I loved to be able to have hot showers whenever I wanted, without wondering if there would be water, to brush our teeth with the tap water, but almost the nicest thing was to do laundry quickly and with a dryer too! Funny how when you grow up with these things, you don't even think about it. When you live somewhere where those things are not a given and often are not even possible it makes you so appreciative of them. I was amazed how fast I could do my laundry....here it takes about a day per load, if there is water!
Something else I realized while back in Canada, was that there are so many options: restaurants, roads, playgrounds, entertainment, even in the grocery store...whole isles just of different types of air fresheners....why? It was strange to me that we need, or think we need, so many options for everything. I guess that is what happens in a consumer driven place. I enjoyed it, questioned it, and then missed the simplicity of Guatemala and the town we live in. I guess having it all, or a lot anyways, isn't the end all be all of life. I knew that, but I saw things in such a new light.
Well, as we prepared to come back to Guatemala, Steve and I both were excited and ready to be back in routine, working, and serving those here who we have come to love so much and who are in many ways our second family. IT was so great to be excited to come back! Absence does make the heart grow fonder and now our challenge is that we have two countries in our hearts that are like HOME! Thankfully God knows our future and where we are to be... He is our hope, strength and joy in it all!

Medical Team....

I am excited to write that a few weeks ago I was able to go out with a Medical Team to help some rural communities. It was a bit of a surprise that I was able to go with them and such a gift to me. I used to be a Registered Nurse in B.C. and worked up until I had Rachel (my second child). Since that time I have wondered when or if I would go back one day and if I would remember any of the skills or knowledge I had back then. Well, during the week I realized that it would be good to go back one day and that I truely love to help people when they are sick or in pain.

The team was here for the first time from New York. It was the first time I met them, and yet we got along great and they were such kind people. Each morning we left around 8am and drove to a little village and spent either the morning or the whole day there. We had a triage area, where we took their info, vitals, and weights. Then the people met with either a Pediatrician or a Doctor, for further help, advice and prescriptions of medicine. The people we met were such friendly and appreciative people and I just loved meeting them. So many of the problems were related to bad water, hard work/labor, smoke from the fires they cook over all day long....most things we don't face at home. So many women suffered from headaches, shoulder/back, knee pain, which is most often related to huge piles of wood that they carry either on their heads or on their backs with fabric holding it in place on their foreheads. They work so hard! We met one man who was 86 years old and he still works everyday, lond days, in the fields. Hard to imagine that back home....but that is the reality here. No retirment plan, pension, or social assistance in any of these areas, let alone medicine or medical help nearby.

It was an honor to be out there, trying to help, and listen to each person and what they were going through. The team helped approximately 60 people each day, with much attention and care. A great way to tangibly show Christs love to people. I hope to have the chance to do this again one day and look forward to seeing the people from the New York team again. Blessings to all who read this and remember how blessed we are to have access to medical care if needed. Love ya!