Another Buza Is Going to Guatemala (August, 2011)!

Grandchildren: There are lots of reasons to be happy about Marcia's trip to Guatemala with a team from her Church. Foremost is the opportunity she has to go and minister to people in deep economic and spiritual need. It will be for her -- and maybe for all of us -- a life'changing event. It will be a time to reflect on the human condition and on the necessity of the Gospel being preached to ALL tongues, tribes, and nations. 

One of the joys for this family is because of the fond ties that Grandpa and Grandma Buza had to Guatemala and its people. Back in the 1940s, Robert and Dallas Buza took their three boys: Carlin, Wayne, and Joel and headed to that country to share the Good News with the people. Eventually, illnesses of Wayne (Marcia's Dad) and Grandma resulted in a physician ordering the family to go back to cold climates in order to save the lives of the mother and son. Of course, that little boy Wayne is YOUR grandfather now and he's not so young anymore! 

This picture was scanned from the family passport and was signed by Grandpa. The original photo had the whole family, but this was cropped to show your grandfather (about 2 in this picture) and his Dad. Grandpa's and Grandma's ministry was mainly in Guatemala City, where Aunt Marcia (Mom) will fly on August 17th. My nephew Zack Cain and wife Holly are part of the team as well.  We are amazed to think that they may walk some of the very streets where Gramp's family walked so long ago. We can hardly wait to see the look on her face when we see her again. We can hardly wait to hear her impression of the sights, the sounds, the scenes from a place that is very much changed since the 1940s -- or even the 1970s when Grandpa and Grandma went back to help after a devastating earthquake. God is so good to afford her this opportunity of a lifetime. We pray there will be great fruit for the kindgdom!

The other night Grampie shared some memories of Guatemala with (Aunt/Mom) Marcia. I'm asking him to repeat them and I will write what he says:  He remembers being in a boat on Lake Atitlan -- nothing more specific. He remembers there were two volcanoes in Guatemala and he thinks they are still potentially active. There was La Agua and El Fuego, literally "the water" and "the fire". He remembers being at Chichicastanengo where there was a cathedral where people could buy a container of incense. They would take the incense and pray, going up the steps on their knees. If the incense was still burning when they reached the top step, they were allowed to go into the cathedral to pray. "While we were at Chichicastanengo, I remember Carlin eating red hot chili peppers -- and Joel and I thought he was crazy. I don't believe there were any ill effects to him." He said they lived in a compound that had four units in it. The Buza's lived in the bottom left and Grandpa Buza's friends -- the Turners -- lived in the top right. He said they had a dog at the compound, but he doesn't remember the dog's name. He remembers Grandpa and Herman Turner playing with huge dominoes. He remembers that Uncle Joel was able to sing very well with Grandpa the words to "At The Cross" in an Indian dialect -- Quiche. All the family sang in Spanish.

He said he remembers seeing a man steal a crow bar from the compound. He saw the man walking down the street with nothing in his hand -- and when he came along the street from behind the compound, he was carrying the crow bar. He said that is one of the most clear memories from that time.

I, personally, remember Grandpa telling how he liked going shopping for shoes with Herman Turner. Grandpa wore 5 1/2 EEE and Herman wore a 12 AA. Just a sort of "fun memory".

We will be reporting more -- hopefully with a picture or two when Marcia returns! Please pray for her while she is gone.