Our trip to Disneyland

Earlier this month we took a family trip to Disneyland courtesy of the grandparents. Here are a few pictures.

Direction for the Haddox's...

Many have been asking us if God has given us a particular direction. Yes he has in the sense that we have a direction that we are pursuing, whether or not it will come together is not as certain.

As many of you know, I have been preaching at a church in Reno, NV that has suffered loss. The direction God is leading us is working with this church in the redefining/ re-planting of the church. How this will come together still has to be worked out as there are several serious matters that need to be taken care of before we can even start over.

The other matter is money to live on. For this my dad and I are looking to start a new engineering company called Western Nevada Engineering. I would then be able to work part time in engineering for the money and part time pastor for the ministry. The engineering business hangs mainly on a particular client that can provide our bread and butter work that we can depend on for survival. Pray for the meeting we are having with this potential client next week.

I just wanted to let everyone know that for some time God has been leading us down this path but we didn't want to tell everyone if it wasn't going to happen. With each passing day it becomes more certain but there still are many things that need to fall in place for this all to work. We DO have a direction that we are going and projects we are pursuing but unfortunately (and as usual) nothing is concrete. Pray for us as we continue to walk in faith.
Always feel free to email us with any questions you have.

Canyon Loop

Canyon Loop

Blogged with Flock

What's up? and what's next...

I know many of you are anxious to hear from us to know what the next step is for us. The best I can say is that God is continuing to prove himself faithful in guiding our path. There still are a few viable options and hopefully we will have a confirmed choice in the next week or so. Our goal has been to have a decision by the end of September. A goal I think we will meet.

Please continue praying for us during this time of uncertainty. Just as Abraham was led to the "land God would show him" so we find ourselves in a similar boat. Pray the the Lord would limit the options to one and make it clear just as He did with Jordan.

Returning to the states has been both difficult and a blessing. It has been wonderful to see family and visit with some of you. It also has been hard adjusting to U.S. wealth. In Guatemala we would be considered wealthy but here we would not. For example... we have been looking to get low fat powdered milk because you can get it cheap in Guatemala and (just like with juice) dilute the mixture with 2x the water so your milk goes twice as far because milk is expensive. In Guatemala this was normal for us. Here it sounds sad to water down your milk with half water yet we still have so much! I hope this inner struggle will always stay with us for some part.

The house in Lake Almanor has been such a blessing for us. It works for our family very well. The boys have a bedroom, the girls a little loft and we have a bedroom upstairs. There is a big deck in front that we enjoy every day. The lake is two houses down, across the street and down a path through a neighbors yard. The weather has been good (though colder than Guatemala). The kids have enjoyed the woods and bike rides. We even went fishing last Saturday (but caught nothing). They have done well with all the traveling but don't like it so much.

Heather has started homeschooling again. The kids enjoy having half the subjects taught in Spanish. I am studying with Pastor Greg at Sierra Bible in Pastoral Practicum and will be preaching the next two Sundays in a small church in south Reno called Pathway.

We will keep you all up-to-date with the process and will surely let you know when the Lord has given us a specific direction. We are pursuing a particular option but, for now our direction is to seek him while we pursue this particular path and trust him that if it is the right path, the pieces will come together, and if not, He will close the door and move us on to the next option.

Thank you for your prayers...

Back in the USA...

Yes we are back. We arrived in Reno Wednesday evening and are getting settled in a cabin at Lake Almanor. We still don't have internet but hope to have that remedied by the end of the week. This post is short but we just wanted to let you all know that we are here and we'll give more info when we actually have internet at home :)

Also I am building a homepage at ericheatherh.googlepages.com which will have links to our calendar and give a little blurb of the latest info so you can check just one place.

The next step...

As the office for EMI moves to Costa Rica in the next month or so, our time in Guatemala is coming to a close. Words cannot even begin to describe the incredible things we have lived and seen (more details in our official newsletter coming next month). Which brings us to the next phase of our ministry. We are going on our first furlough (which means a time to reconnect with all your supporters, churches, and ministry partners). We will be arriving in Reno , Nevada on August 29th and have a tentative furlough time of 3-4 months. Most missionaries will spend 3-5 years on the mission field and then back Stateside for 6 months to 1 year. We have lots to pray about and decide about our future ministry. We hope to meet with each one of you to thank you for your support and spend time in each of our supporting churches during our stay. The Lord has graciously provided a home to stay in (for free, we just have to pay the utilities) for the time back home. We will be officially stationed in Lake Almanor , California but we will be traveling a lot to visit all of you! Please continue giving your regular support amount during our furlough time. We will be sure to keep you up to date on all the latest happenings with us as the Lord reveals them to us in His time.

Jordan is no longer a possibility with Habitat, the director said that he has too much on his hand with his current staff to take on any new staff. We are thankful to know that that door has been shut by God and not by us.

A couple of things to pray about

• Our future ministry: EMI has continued to express their interest in our going with the office to Costa Rica , please pray as we consider this possibility
• Our time on furlough: Transition to Stateside living (especially for the kids), homeschooling, great reconnection with supporters and supporting churches
• Our moving: Pray as we prepare, pack, say our goodbyes, sell the rest of our stuff (by the way, there's only a bed, a kids pool, and a dishwasher left to sell, Yeah!!!)
• A car: We have to buy or find a car while we're back.

-Heather

Circuit of Guatemala...

Another Haddox Venture (buckle up, this one's also unbelievable)
We took our first Family vacation in 5 years (there's been weekend outings, but nothing longer than 2 nights).

First we went to Rio Dulce (the opening to te eastern seaboard) and stayed in a jungle lodge where we had to walk across wooden suspension bridges just to get to our bungalow. We took an amazing boat ride from there to the mouth leading to the Caribbean sea . It was amazing and very relaxing. On our next trek we went north to Tikal (where Survivor took place) and were able to walk the Mayan park and see the amazing Mayan pyramids build around the same time as Christ's birth. It's was incredible to see the technology that the Mayans had, as well as the kids enjoyed the monkeys in the trees and the crocodiles in the lake.

Our final stop was at Semuc Champe, an amazing underground river that surfaces and leaves behind amazingly clear pools of water full of peace and tranquility. This is where the trip turned from peaceful to stressful. We stayed the night in a tiny little tarantula infested hostel and it rained all night and hard. When we woke up, we found that the river had risen 9 feet and was continuing to rise. We went to see the peaceful pools of Semuc, and there was nothing but a raging flooded brown river. We decided, we'd better get out of there. By the time we left the water had risen 12 feet and we slid out of there on the muddy, hilly, rocky roads that even the 4 x 4's had stopped traveling on. We made it to the nearest village (the only way back to our home was through this village) only to find that it was completely flooded and there was no way across the bridge. We had to hike through the knee deep bridge through town with one kid on our shoulders and the other on our back while the towns people gawked and pointed. We made in on the other side and had to rent a hotel room in order to spend the night. At 1:00, Eric went to check the water level, only to find it had risen to about 3 feet deep now. While watching the river, a lady came running out crying that her house had just fallen in the river and disappeared. It was looking really desperate.

By 5:00 the river had risen to about 8 feet deep and was at the top of doorways, 5 people had died in the town next door, and our car which was parked 200 feet away from the flood waters was now 1 foot in the water. Eric took a wooden canoe across the bridge and was able to move our car to higher ground. We spend the night (6 people in 3 twin beds) and awoke to find that the rain had finally stopped, but the flood waters had risen even higher over the night. By 10 a.m. Eric was able to weave his way through a muddy side road and across a higher wooden bridge to finally bring our car to the other side of town. We had to take several other detours through muddy side roads due to the bridges all being under water. We were able to finally make it home to safety, but please pray for the people who lost their homes or businesses to the flood (many we saw first hand) in the towns of San Pedro Carcha, and Coban.

Another adoptive victory!

Heather has been helping the Pittman family, some people having trouble with their adoption, with their difficult situation for the past several months. This past week she was able to help them through the final embassy process where they finally obtained the visas they needed to bring their two adopted children home to the US.

Several months ago we were contacted by some people who were asking for some help in a difficult situation. They had finished the adoption process but due to some bureaucratic red tape they couldn't get visas for their children to come home with them. Heather knew that some other friends (Juan Pablo and Julissa)of ours here in Guatemala could use some financial assistance and were great candidates for caring for the two babies until the process could be resolved. Since then and over the past 5 months or so, Heather has been involved each step of the way. With the difficulties and knowledge of the adoption process we went through to adopt Anzo, Heather was able to bring a very real and tangible comfort and assistance to the Pittman family. She was also able to be a source of encouragement for Juan Pablo and family as they were in a difficult time of transition also.

Heather has been able to bless many different people and families here. I may work full time with eMi while Heather spends most of her time schooling the kids but she is also daily touching the lives of those around her through church, story time, as Principal of the English Academy, counselor... the list goes on and on.

Megan comes Eric goes...

Eric left to attend the eMi 25th Ann World Conference in Jackson Hole WY. (read here) While he was gone Megan, the daughter of some friends of ours in MN, came down for a week to help Heather with the kids and experience Guatemala on a much more personal level living with a missionary family. Heather and Megan did a 2 day VBS for children at a new feeding center in Chimaltenango run by our friends Rafael and Evelin. Their week was packed with VBS, going to the beach, embassy visits and much more.

Anzo turns 6...

Anzo turned 6 on June 24th. He had a "Space" birthday. Heather wanted a rocket ship piñata but the lady at the piñata shop didn't know what a "rocket" looked like. Heather drew a picture and the lady said, "oh a firecracker". Either way she made a piñata that looked just like Heather's picture. We hung it like it was flying over the table with aluminum foil stars hanging around and "space guy" floating by a coat hanger (Anzo's fireman wrapped in foil).

All the kinds swam for the most part (not sure what that has to do with space) and then after smacking the piñata we ate the cake, which was a vertical rocket cake ready for take off.

Anzo also lost his first tooth on his birthday!

Happy Birthday Anzo!!

see more pictures here

Jordan?!?

Unbeknownst to most, Jordan has been lingering in the back of our minds the past several months. eMi hopes to open an office there to service the Middle East and north Africa. I just returned from a project trip to Jordan to advise Habitat for Humanity Jordan on construction management issues to make their construction process "better, faster, cheaper..."

Heather and the kids remained in the states (see previous post) while I traveled to Jordan. The trip with Habitat was amazing (read the technical details here in EricEMI.blogspot.com). We finished the construction of the roof system of a house outside of Amman. I found Jordan to be very different, much more different from the States than Guatemala. I quickly found this out during a early conversation with the brother of the woman for whom we were building the house. He asked the typical question about the ages of my kids. I told him I had a 7 yr old and 3 5 yr olds. after I told him they were not triplets he assumed I had two wives just like him. I quickly realized I was "not in Kansas anymore" The cultural differences abound in a culture based in Islam instead of Christianity. About 2% of the population are "Christian" and only 0.2% are "evangelical" (1% Catholic and about 1% Coptic).

I have always been drawn to those who are against the gospel. In Guatemala the gospel is evident and culturally accepted as a base of society. Jordan, on the other hand, is one of the most Islamic of the Middle Eastern countries by percentage. It is relativley safe for Christians to live there though it is still illegal to "convert" muslims.

Randy, while working in the eMi Guatemala office, encouraged me to go with him to start the Middle East office but it looks like they will not be openning the office for a significant amount of time. When the EMI project trip to advise Habitat came up I was excited for the opportunity. Habitat was asking for construction suggestions and then requesting someone to return for a 1.5 to 2 year commitment to implement the suggestions. This peaked my interest. While we were praying about Jordan the news came up about the possibility of the eMi Guatemala office moving. As this option was investigated by eMi they decided to move the office to Costa Rica. At the end of last year Heather and I had roughly decided on leaving Guatemala at the end of the summer 07 because our original 3 year commitment was just about up and the summer was a good time. Ironically the office will be moving to Costa Rica in September.

Heather and I always pray that the Lord narrows our options down to only one that we feel is right. I think that if eMi were to stay in Guatemala it would be much harder to move to Jordan because we are so happy with the work here. We don't feel drawn to move to Costa Rica nor would we want to switch organizations in order to stay in Guatemala. Well that certified our thoughts of leaving at the end of summer but neither of us are ready to leave the mission field.

When going on the project trip to Jordan I was unsure exactly how much help I would be. I have never been a professional construction manager nor a practiced structural engineer but I found that my experience with building low cost, masonry single family homes in a 3rd world context for the past year and rebuilding homes in the "Stan" project proved to be invaluble. I was able to engage myself in the discussions and be a valuable asset to the assessment team as we quickly found several ways to improve the current designs as well as alternate design technologies to improve the process altogether.

For a while Heather and I have had a desire to understand the muslim culture and the thought process of the Middle East altogether because we want to understand the mindset of Jesus and the authors of the scriptures better. Jordan allows us these cultural insights as well as being right next to the Holy Land to explore and understand. One cannot come to Jordan as a "missionary", you have to come as a professional in some other field and live your life as a missionary. God has made a way for me through engineering.

We have made no definitive plans yet but we do see an obvious trend and leading. There are still many talks to have regarding specific job description and location. Much prayer to be done in ensuring God's leading. There are still other options that still remain possibilities and we will wait until the option is clear before proclaiming our path but we wanted everyone to know that Jordan is a very real possibility that is becoming more and more likely.

Pray for us as we seek the Lord in this time of change.

US visit...

Many people were unaware that we were back in the states. We really only had time to visit family. This was the first time in 2 1/2 years that we all could travel as a family because Anzo's adoption has been completed. We passed through immigration at about 2am on May 14 and Anzo became a citizen of the United States. This was the highlight that glimmered among an otherwise difficult travel.

Beyond the kids being so tired they were throwing up in the airport in line at immigration, we managed to have our laptop stolen somewhere between immigration and the shuttle stop in front of the airport. We realized this en route to the car rental place. As I went back to look for it, unsuccessfully I might add, Heather went on to rent the car. The car we had asked for was not available so we got a minivan at the "bargain" of the same rate (the minivan should have been cheaper). The people gave Heather the key and told her to press the alarm button to see the lights flash to let her know which van was hers. She proceeded to load all the luggage and the 4 sick kids by herself. When I arrived she was ready to go but my GPS wasn't working and it was the middle of the night in LA. We found our way to the highway and later realized that the minivan had a GPS system but Advantage failed to let us know that or how to work it. Down the road Abi needed to vomit again and I rushed outside and wretled with the automatic side door to open and the sliding door fell off the track! I managed to get it closed and we continued. Later we even managed to get a flat and the spare was under the middle of the car inbetween the driver and passenger seats! Even the people at the tire shop had to triple team it for and hour to get it back in shape.

We did manage to get to Heather's uncle Dale's house and visit with his family as well as her grandmother Betty who has been bedridden for several years but still is quite fiesty. The journey continued on to my brother's house where we were able to visit for two days. It was really good to be with my brother and his family. Our kids had lots of fun playing with cousins and it was a relaxing couple days after hectic travel.

Next on the list was my parents house in Reno. We stayed there for a couple days and I enjoyed having extended conversations with both mom and dad. We were able to be there for Dad's angiogram and explore new health needs for him. We were also able to spend some time with Holly (Heather's virtual sister) and Darren and their baby girl Addy. During the weekend we travelled to Heather's mom's house in Paradise and spent most of our time outside at the lovely park down the street. The kids enjoyed her new Chihuahua "Chloe". We returned to Reno where I left for Jordan (read seperate post) and Heather continued to the beach in Brookings, OR and see her brother Bryce. She and the kids also spent time with her dad and Cathy in Lake Almanor. All in all it was wonderful to see everyone but it is good to be back home in Guatemala and have things settle down a little. I am back in the office and getting back to finishing the work left in the office before the office moves to Costa Rica in September. I am the only one in the office until Tom returns on July 17.

Adoption Complete!!! (almost)

Yesterday we had our final interview at the embassy. They approved our I-600 petition to clasify orphan as an immediate relative. That means that the US government recognizes our guatemalan adoption and he is classified as being our child! They also approved his IR3 visa which means that we will all be able to travel to the US and when we land and go through customs, Anzo will become a US citizen!! I pick up his visa at 3:30 today.

We had purchased tickets for the whole family at the beginning of April for us to travel May 13, hoping that the adoption would be done. God is faithful and we will receive Anzo's visa on the last possible day before our flight (the embassy is closed Fri-Sun). Now he will be a citizen, Heather can be in the states with family while I visit Jordan on a project trip, and we can travel back to Guatemala together!

God is Good!

P.S. the reason I say (almost) complete is that I do still have to pick up the visa and then travel to the states before the process is complete but those are just formalities. Also when we move back to the States we will have to "re-adopt" him in our state but that is a short and simple process that some people don't even choose to do for years after the adoption.

Bok Bok diet

Abi loves to carry our chicken Bok Bok around and play with her just like a doll. Bok Bok loves to eat shiney things. When both of these are together, what do you get? Bok Bok ate Abi's earring right out of her ear!

Abi came running into the house saying that she lost her earring (something that happens on way too regular a basis). The thing that made this so different was that the cicken had pecked it right out of here ear. She was just fine with only a couple peck marks on here ear.

The next day Bok Bok laid her usual egg and Anzo came running inside proclaiming, "I think the earring is inside"

April Fun

With the pool in place, April has been a wet month. Now just about each day the kids jump on the trampoline and swim and play Kacker (a modified version of hide and go seek with a nerf rocket). Eli also finally lost his other front tooth.

One of the days we went with some friends to a pond outside of Chimaltenango where Eli fished with a net and Anzo with a bamboo pole and string. The girls rode around on the horse while Heather set up the food and I barbequed.


See April Pictures here

PINK SLIP!

Most people fear getting a pink slip at their work. Us on the otherhand celebrate recieving it like the person getting the pink slip for their new car (CA). because that means that the embassy has accepted our final documents and has set an appointment for our final interview with immigration. After which the adoption will finally be COMPLETE.

To understand the significance of this timing you have to understand that we have already purchased tickets to visit the states as a family on May 13. All 6 tickets only cost $550 so we thought we would take the risk and buy them. Our appointment with immigration is May 9. If our meeting goes well, our visa will be ready on May 10. The embassy is closed May 11-13. So we got in JUST before we leave (read my thoughts on the other blog).

We celebrated by going out to pizza! Lord be with us on the 9th!

Give what has been given

We were given a gift of groceries from some Guatemalan friends of ours here as a thank you for all the work Heather has done at the school and with storytime. At dinner we read a story of a poor family that recieved a lot of gifts for Christmas and were found the next day wrapping them back up. When asked they said they were giving much of the stuff to their neighbors because, "how can we take all this when our neighbors are still poor." This spurned us to take half of the food given to us and "share" it with some people living in a champa (tin shack) just down the street from us. I hope we all are more willing to share generously and freely without the "wet-blanket" of fearing how they will use it getting in the way. We have been given freely, so should we freely give.

Bok Bok eggs!!

Our chicken is finally laying eggs. As I was making room to lay out the pool I moved her coop and there I found three eggs. She has been laying eggs about one every day. so this Saturday we were able to have "Bok Bok" pancakes. Finally we have a chicken that lays eggs!! And all we have to do is let her eat TKO's dog food that we leave out. TKO isn't so thrilled about that idea. He bites at her to keep her away from his ffod but she is just too persistant!

Happy Resurrection Day!

In typical easter fashion, one of our kids was sick. This year it was Abi. After church we hunted for eggs in our house with an egg hidden for each child in each room. Jonathan was able to join us in the celebration.

Team Haddox vs the volcano...

We finally climbed Volcan Pacaya as a family. Two other families wanted to climb Pacaya so we decided to do it together.
The climb is too long and steep for kids so we got horses for them and we trekked up. The kids had a blast on the horses. Once we reached the picnic area at the top we stopped and had some dinner before climbing the sea of lava rock to see lava.

The walk over the lava rocks was difficult but we made it to a great lookout right at the base and on the side of the lava flows. Eric proceeded to climb up in between the flows with two other dads. We all were able to watch the lava grow bright as it got darker and then roast hot dogs over the lava.

The walk back to the car wasn't much fun in the dark but we made it safe and everyone had a great time!

See the kids writing about the trip here
and see the pics here

the girls 5...1/2 birthday

I always look for an extra opportunity to celebrate people especially the kiddos. So enter the half birthday!. The girls were able to celebrate their half birthday first at the Zoo with the "storytime" group that Heather leads and then the next day at the waterpark.

The zoo was packed with schoolkids on field trip but there was still plenty of room to see all the animals. We had the typical zoo fun looking at the elephants and such, and then we did the "only in Guatemala" things like hold the howler monkey's hand and pet an Ocelot (small leapord thing) through the cages.

The next day was the true celebration. At the waterpark, which also has some animals, we found a new addition...an elephant wandering in the parking area. We walked over to it and pet its trunk. We were able to enjoy the pools and slides, ride horses, hold hands with the spider monkeys and let the baby racoons try to remove my rings. All unsupervised in true "only in Guate" fashion.

The girls had their friends over to share their "half" birthday cake (a round cake cut in half). All around a fun day!

See more photos

March fun

I don't have time for a full post but here are just a couple highlights of family moments in March. go here to see all the pictures of march. Don't forget to check out the new layout of collections on our photo site (flickr.com)

The kids love to ride around the block on the motorcycle with me

Abi and BokBok the chicken

Anzo on a bouncy waterslide

Daddy and the boys have dirt wars

Zoe on the trampoline

1st service in Tabacal...

I have turned over the ministry to the Mayan people of Tabacal to Carlos Fernandez, a guatemalan american missionary who attends our church. He is now the pastor of missions for our church in San Lucas. The church that was initially constructed by Sierra Bible Church in Reno, NV has now almost been completed and we held the first service in the "completed" building. Carlos brought a team down from the states and we had a lunch in the church for the children, gave food out to the families, and some toys and clothes out to the children. It was a good time of service. Carlos will continue the work there with a children's program for nutrition and spiritual education. We are looking together at options for more permanent houseing in a Habitat for Humanity style setup.

During the event Heather and the kids all come for the celebration and the kids were able to help with the distribution of the food. Heather read Bible stories to the children of Tabacal and helped organize the distribution of food and gifts. We prayed for the people all together and told of the hope found in the gospel.

With the fields for crops in place (even though some crops are failing due to weather), the water system in place and working wonderfully, and the church built, the majority of my job there is complete and it is time for me to hand the ministry over to a guatemalan that can minister to them on a deeper spiritual level and one that will be there for years to come. We thank God for the Fernandez family and their commitment to furthering God's kingdom in Tabacal. We will still be involved there to some level but more and more as volunteers.
To see the rest of the pictures of this event click here (or search for Tabacal Feb 2007 in our Flickr account)

Eli turns 7...

Eli had a superhero party for his 7th birthday. For the first time he had a sleep-over party. We brought out 4 mattresses into the living room to make a huge bed and then did a superhero pillow fight. several of the boys exclaimed the next day that it was the best birthday party they had ever been to. The morning of birthdays I make them extra special pancakes for them and this year was my fanciest yet. I made "superman" pancakes. The Spiderman piñata was a "hit". Look at the pics below.

A new Haddox...

Anzo is finally ours! On Dec 27 the decision was made by the Guatemalan courts to call us Anzo's parents. A decree was sent out to the place where he was born to create a new birth certificate with our names on it. We hope to have that document in the next week and then its off to the embassy again to get him immigrated and naturalized. The process is not complete but he IS adoptED. We announced this to Anzo to which he smiled and ran off. He doesn't know what difference a piece of paper makes. We went to Pizza Hut to celebrate.

I love celebrations especially when they celebrate a person. We all need to be celebrated and know we are important. We also need to be humble in celebrating others and showing they are important. To this end I have been searching for new ways to celebrate the kids. Our answer...'Half-Birthdays'! It also just so happens that Anzo's Half-Birthday is Dec 24 but that is a tough day to celebrate so it will move around but because his adoption date is Dec 27 (so close) we can celebrate them together!

Hopefully soon, we can start planning a long overdue trip to Disneyland. He has been anxiously waiting to visit the states. I feel that, albeit subconsiously, he sees us as being from the states and him from Guatemala. A visit to the states will confirm the permanence of things, as to say, We all are now from the states and when we leave we will all leave together.