Spending Your Money

Chances are if you're reading this, you may have donated some money to Carey and me. For this, we will be forever grateful.

I must admit, however, though we've gladly accepted your money, it hasn't always been easy for us to spend it. The first few months we were here in Guatemala were sheer torture. And it wasn't due to the culture shock or the upset stomachs, it was because of the guilt Carey and I felt for spending your money.

Here's the deal: when you're a 34 year-old man the last thing you want to be doing is mooching off of others (or worse yet, living with your parents while mooching off others, which we did for 2 months before coming here - geez!) You want to feel financially independent! You want to feel like your career and earnings trajectory is headed upward, not come to an abrupt halt! Yet here we were - no paychecks - reduced to sending out letters to ask for money.

When we first arrived in Guatemala, we were hyper-sensitive to how we spent your money. For example, it was three months before I would even buy a snack (something I considered a "non-essential" to our mission here). Over time, however, we've lightened up a bit, which we hope is okay with you. We're still pretty cheap when it comes to handing over our Quetzales, but we've recently discovered an unexpected blessing from spending someone else's money: it's made us extremely generous people.

What I mean by that is before, when I considered it "my" money, I was slower to give it away to people who needed it more than I did. Now, I find myself looking for opportunities to use "your" money to help others. And here in Guatemala, you don't have to look far. When one of my neighbors tells me they need medicine, I walk to the pharmacy with them and buy it for them. When we see a child with a need (milk, lunch) we but it for them. When we hear of a worthy cause to donate to (shoes for children, water purification systems), we give money towards the project.

By giving us your money, you have changed me. You give us your hard-earned money in order that that money would bless others. And it has. Thanks to your faith in us, I now see money differently. When I return to the States next year, and am receiving paychecks once again, I will see "my" money differently. In fact, I will no longer see it as "my" money. It's money given to me (I believe by God) to bless others. I will continue to be generous with money, because, in reality, it never really was mine in the first place.

So thank you for your trust, and thank you most of all for changing me.

Guatemaltecos use Quetzales for currency. A quetzal is the national bird here (see it in the upper left corner of the bill?) Q100 is the largest bill here, and is worth only $12 USD. When I go into a bank to get money for our teams (usually around $2-3,000 USD, I emerge looking like a drug dealer b/c of the huge pile of quetzales they give me. Nothing screams, "rob me!" quite like a gringo carrying Q24,000!

The Relative Cost of Things:

Here's how much we spend on common things here in Guatemala:

Rent: $230 (includes bills)

5-gallon jug of pure water: $2

Gas: approx. $2.70/gallon

Breakfast at a restaurant: $2.50

Head of broccoli, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 4 squash, avocado & bag of rice: $2 total!

Jar of peanut-butter: $9 !!! (we have teams bring it to us)

Dozen roses: $2

New pair of tennis shoes: $22

1-hour Spanish lesson (one-on-one): $5

"New" shirt: $1.50

Bus ride to nearest town: $.75

Each of these prices is about 30% higher for gringos - we get a "special" price! ; )

Have a blessed week!

Peace,

Jay