THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Here We Are – 40 Years Later

40 Crazy Years – Quakertown, to Kitchener, Ontario, to Ft Lauderdale, to Lancaster, to Guatemala, to Denver….

And we‟ve still got another 25 years to go!

All that I know,

. . . . I learned in the last 40 Years

The Spring House

…

Is this still the

best place to

take yearbook

photos, wedding

pictures… or

what?

Dad, what WAS it like back then, in the

“old days”?

(Yes, dear, we had electricity!)

(And no, we didn’t have dinosaurs.)

Let’s take a quick glance at 1971

and onward . . .

Time flies…. Barney seems like so

long ago – but that dinosaur was born

21 years after you graduated!

Barney, the

dinosaur didn’t

arrive until 1992.

Here he is at the

CD parking lot.

;-)

CD Guys’ Car of Choice - Camaro

1971 Camaro - $ 2,795 (but now worth $46,000!)

2011 Camaro $39,000

Well, I also learned that prices can change over 40 years

1971 2011

Eggs $ 0.53 $ 1.29

Gas $ 0.36 $ 3.60

House $ 28,300 $ 284,750

Salary $ 9,028 $ 51,740

Gold $ 41 $ 1,750

Population 207,000 312,540

DJIA 950 12,100

I learned things don’t always last, including people.

• Ronald Reagan Died 2004 George R Brunk 2002

• John Denver, my Aunt Lavina and Grandma Martin

• Berlin Wall 1989

• Popular then: Tony Orlando & Dawn, Jackson Five

• John Lennon. Jesus People

Note: Started: Heritage Singers, Maranatha Singers

And, I learned that things do change over 4 decades.

“wrapper” gum, 1971 Remember Fruit Stripe?

Computers: $4,000,000 in 1971 = $400 iPhone in 2011

“rapper” Lil‟ Wayne, 2011

I also learned that War isn’t the Answer :-(

Wars – 1971 and onward

Vietnam War Afghan War

Bosnia Sudan

Gulf War Kosovo

War on Drugs Somalia

War in Iraq War on Poverty

1971 Edwin Starr top radio song –

“War! What is it good for? (absolutely nothin’) My birthday February 8, 1953 was draft pick . . . 347 !

And, I learned time flies even if we “think” we are younger

Justin Bieber?

Uh, His MOTHER wasn’t even born until 1976 !! Trivia: (Biebers lived near us in Stratford, Ontario)

I also learned that some people are confused

I learned things we need to tell our children and our

grand-children, and . . . remember ourselves.

• God has a Great Plan for You • Give praise and encouragement • Forgive. Often • Say “I’m sorry” – quickly

A guarantee, isn’t

• Hurt people, hurt people • Stay in touch with friends

• Life isn’t “fair”. All things do work out for good*

• Sponsor someone else’s child to

go on a mission trip. My contractor went bankrupt – God readjusted me

Share and teach what

you’ve learned over

those 40 years.

That’s the best legacy

you can create.

• Be extra-generou$

Read bedtime stories • Say “You’re right” more often. • Smile at strangers, clerks • Hug more (One-Minute Rule*)

This December, give $500 to someone

who needs it.

Deliver gifts & food to poor families; take your children along • Say “I love you” more often Fly First-Class once in awhile

• Encourage others often • Get a puppy

* hug your spouse, child, friend for one solid minute!

Guatemala?

What was God thinking?

Can’t He find someone else, someone who

is actually qualified?

Moved in April 1998

We: - Sold a company - 1997 - So comfortable in Lancaster Never had gone on a mission trip. Only spoke English Didn’t “like” poor people, Spanish food, or living without heat, cell phones or Internet……

Please, please, don’t take me to the mission field, I prayed.

It’s a beautiful country . . . But corruption, horrible “health care”, prejudice; extreme poverty

13 Million people in

Guatemala,

50% under the age of 17

80% live in poverty

58% non-literate

High infant & maternal death

rate

Did God Actually Call our Family to Guatemala?

Anita is an RN. (Yes, I know. I “married up” ! )

70 indigenous patients walk an hour & line up at our mountain clinic by 8 in the morning. ------

God wants the glory, so He builds testimonies

At first we felt unsafe and scared

God protected us 100%

(Kidnapped and left to die?)

Police and military everywhere were common sight when we

arrived.

We learned to trust God. Seriously. No faith in police

But He can use anyone He calls.

• Began by delivering food, clothing, medicine • Started a mobile clinic – in a school bus • Built nice permanent clinic in 2001; 10 workers • Hundreds of lives saved. Thousands improved. • God provided funds, people and protection.

- Corn stalk shacks; up to 9 children - Dirt floors are cold and damp - Poverty. A family on $2 a day

.

I learned the meaning of: “What good is it to say, „Bless you, go and

be well-fed‟, yet do nothing”. James 2:16

- Blind lady, alcoholic husband, 5th Child. No food. - Baby died inside the Mom? Rush to hospital odd

hours. We might be the only “Jesus” these people ever see.

Pray for the poor? Sure.

But also feed and help them.

Right: Built house for family, provide food; husband run over by bus, invalid.

Do we know

what it’s

really like? .

Moms… what would you do, really? What could you do?

- No food at all for your children - Violently beat for taking your sick child

to our clinic (not leave house without permission)

- Kicked & beat for giving birth to a girl? - Watch your child die of malnutrition? We provide ministry and help at the clinic.

( I learned that a mother’s life is very hard )

- These 3-year olds help out - Sell fruit all day - 13 cents each sale

Children must work to help the family.

Girls attend school less than boys.

Most children only go to 3rd grade, then help in the fields or help care for even younger children

I learned that a child’s life can be

hard, too.

I

I learned that we don’t

KNOW

WHAT

IT’S

REALLY

LIKE

- Curses they live under

- Must stay in bed with baby or be cursed with no more children

- Don’t leave village without a priest’s blessing (even if child is dying)

- Don’t wash if sick (can cause deaths)

- Witch doctors (take money for nothing)

Have you ever held a dead baby? (It clarifies life’s meaning)

(And, it happened to us; despite the many babies we helped to save, we couldn‟t save our own.)

So that’s about it. All I really know, I learned in those last 40 years.

You can do more than you imagined. It’s never too late to start.

Do more for others than you feel like doing.

God will always keep His promises. (And He has made so many)

Share more of your money than you feel like sharing/giving.

Tough times don’t last… God’s plans & people do. He is a Master at Restoration.

Thank you very much for letting me/us share.

JGG@supernet.com www.handsofhope.org Gregory and Anita Giagnocavo