The Selfs in Guatemala:

I met a new friend named Carol who works for Servants 4 Him in and around Antigua, Guatemala. After supper last night I was trying to get Grace to fall asleep and was wishing that I had brought my Moby wrap. Carol said that the women in the villages that she ministers in have asked her “Why don’t American women like their babies?” She asked why they thought that and the women replied “Because they leave them at home when they go to the market or to work. They also kick the children out of their homes as soon as they turn 18. Our children stay in our homes until they get married and even then our sons usually bring their wife home to live with us.” Carol explained that American women do in fact like their children, they just prefer to be hassle free in the market. Also she told them that in America we like our children to become independent of us and have homes of their own. We like to spend time with them, just not all in one house all of the time. In the villages here the women pretty much toss their baby on their back and wrap a blanket around themselves to hold the baby on. They carry them around all day no matter what they’re doing. This goes on until the child is at least two years old. Children in villages here don’t really ever crawl. They just go straight to walking. I asked Carol if she knew why they did this and she said the women think the ground is too dirty for the kids to walk on.

It’s easy to look at the ways that people here do things and think they are silly or weird, but it makes sense to them. In a village where clean bathing water is hard to come by it does make sense to not let their children crawl around on the ground. I personally LOVE having my own home and get a little overwhelmed when I spend long periods of time with any friends or family other than my husband and children (and even then I need to get away ). But you could argue that the Guatemalans have it right. They are more concerned with quality time with family then getting their children to the right college or the right job. They are almost never too busy to have a conversation with you. I’m excited to see what God will teach me through Guatemalan culture. I’m planning on taking a trip with Carol into some of the villages that she goes to as part of my language learning!

Almost exactly three years after our survey trip to Guatemala we have returned to live! A lot has happened in that three years including the addition of our two sweet babies. Our flight here went as smoothly as it possibly could have. The ice melted enough for us to drive to Atlanta and take off almost on time. We had to edit down all of our belongings that we were taking to eight suitcases and six carry-ons. Most of our team was at the Guatemala City airport to welcome us and make us feel more at home.

Since we arrived we have been basically living out of our carry-ons. We are staying with Glenn and Judy Stewart for a few weeks in Guatemala City until Hannah’s language school begins. We have already gotten bank accounts, cell phones, and found an apartment to rent. Our next step will be finding a vehicle.

The kids have adapted well. The first day we arrived we ate lunch at a fast food restaurant called “Pollo Comparo”. As soon as Solomon saw the playground he jumped right in with the local children. He also went to the kid’s Sunday school class at a local church and loved it! He will be teaching us the correct way to speak Guatemalan Spanish soon. Grace gets a lot of positive attention here just because she’s a cute baby that obviously isn’t from here!

We will have many obstacles ahead while we continue to adjust and learn the new culture. We can’t drink any of the tap water here even when brushing our teeth. Fruits and vegetables have to be soaked in a special solution before we eat them. We line dry our clothing here because of the high cost of electricity. Many nights we have been awakened to fireworks that sound a lot like gunfire (not what you want to hear when there are armed guards at every neighborhood).

There is a lot to be afraid of in Guatemala, but there are so many more reasons to fall in love with the country! We get to see one or more volcanoes at almost any time. There are tons of fresh fruits and vegetables and beautiful foliage everywhere. It’s been sunny and 75 degrees every day that we’ve been here so far. Many people here don’t make much money, but will go out of their way to be friendly to you. We met a woman named Irene who travels on the dangerous public transportation buses two hours each way just to work as a maid in a middle class neighborhood where she makes less than $15 a day. Instead of wasting time on the bus ride she preaches the gospel to anyone on the bus who will listen to her!

We are excited to get through language school and start working at the Christian Academy of Guatemala. There is much need there and they are anxious for us to start. We are equally excited about the people that we will meet and opportunities to minister to others during Hannah’s time in language school. Please continue to keep us in your prayers! Paul tells us in Ephesians that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” We have to remember that while we have many physical struggles, we will also have spiritual struggles in which “the effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much”. One part of our journey has ended and now an even more difficult part has begun. The financial support of our partners is a necessary avenue to keep us here, but prayer support is even more important. Please feel free at any time to drop us a note through email, Facebook, Skype or our blog to encourage us or let us know that you are praying for us.

May God Bless You!

Jordan, Hannah, Solomon & Grace

Life is good!!!

Poor Soly got bitten up by mosquitos. No more sleeping with the windows open at night!

The view from Glenn & Judy’s apartment.

After many months of not knowing exactly when we would leave we finally have a date and plane tickets! We will leave January 14th. We can’t begin to express how thankful we are to everyone who has prayed for us or helped support us financially.

God has taught us so much during this time. We have been able to minister to others even while we’ve been here and we have been ministered to by others. We have been taught patience (a little) and we have seen examples of how to be more of a servant from others.

The most important thing we have learned is that we have to trust in God for everything. He desires for us to need Him and only Him. When we begin to worry about all of the details He reminds us that He already has them worked out and that we need to trust Him. God is and always will be faithful and trustworthy!!!

Please continue to pray for us. Part of our journey is ending, but a new part is beginning. We will have many obstacles and fears to face in the near future. In the immediate future please pray that our flight/baggage/etc will go as smooth as possible. After that we will be completing our visa process, finding an apartment and car, starting language school and just getting used to the culture. Pray for the kids too. I know this will be a big adjustment for Solomon especially.

God bless you and have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Solomon’s vocabulary has really exploded in the past few months. One of his favorite things to say when we’re riding in the car is “almost home”! It always makes us laugh, especially when we still have an hour or two before we’ll actually be home :).

We feel the same way right now about Guatemala. We are “almost home”! We are picking up the pace on our preparations for Guatemala. Some of our preparations include sending in our applications for Solomon and Grace’s passports, more frequent communication with other missionaries in the field, and putting our house up for rent in the next couple of months. It’s feeling very real now!

We have been so incredibly blessed by friends and family who have supported us through their finances, prayers and other means. We never would have known just how gracious people can be until we started our journey as missionaries. When our car was about to give out, a sweet family from our church offered us their car until we leave. When we were preparing our house for renting, our church sent out a team of guys to help. God is always reassuring us along the way that He is able to do much, much more than we could ever ask or think!

Our plan is to leave for Guatemala late this Fall. At this time we have 92% of our monthly support raised and 85% of our outgoing expenses. That means that we need about $500 more of our monthly support and $7 ,000 more of our outgoing expenses. We would like to challenge you to pray about helping us get to our 100% that we need to be able to leave on schedule. That could look like only five more supporters at $100 a month, 10 more supporters at $50 a month or 20 more supporters at $25 a month. We are so thankful for anything that you can give, especially your prayers! Please let us know if you have any questions at all about our ministry or if you would like for us to speak at your church/Bible study/etc.

In other news, we welcomed our beautiful baby girl into the world June 3rd. She weighed six pounds and fourteen ounces and was 19 inches long. She is such a joy! Solomon loves her and seems to be  very protective of his baby sister. Next step…potty training!

Thanks again for all of your prayers!

God Bless You,

Jordan, Hannah, Solomon & Grace

We are back from our pre-field training! Our time at the Center for Intercultural Training (or CIT) was even more valuable than we could have ever imagined. We learned about learning a culture, how to deal with culture shock, how to learn a language more quickly, how to be a part of an effective team, interpersonal skills, and so much more. We even had a class on missionary kids and the unique trials that they go through. Going to Guatemala without this training would have been like jumping into water without knowing how to swim! We are so thankful that CAM knew what they were doing when they required us to do the training.

Solomon is 2!

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” ~Ephesians 2:10

God Bless You!


Jordan & Hannah Self

Who is an MK? I am a combination of two cultures. I am neither and I am both. I am the brat who throws a temper tantrum and refuses to dress native for the American church. I am the six-year-old who cries herself to sleep the first two weeks away from home. I am the one who complained about eating oatmeal everyday of my life, yet I am the one who orders oatmeal at the restaurant just for old times' sake.

I am the one who desperately worries about fitting in, but I am the one who wears my native wrap around the college dorm and doesn't care what anyone thinks. I am the one who has lived under strict school rules, and I am the one who returns to America and questions what my real values are. I am the one the churches make a saint out of, and the one some people pity and laugh at. I am the one who traveled halfway around the world before I was four, and I am the one who has no home. I am the one who promises to write, but never does because it's too difficult to deal with the reality of separation. I am the one who has seen the devil dancers, and I am the one who has seen the rock concerts.

I am the one who knows and understands world missions, life and death, heaven and hell. I am the one who has seen God work miracles. I am the one who knows prayer works, but I am the one who sometimes finds it difficult to pray.

I am the one who has learned to live with a politically unstable government, and I am the one who waits impatiently by the phone for news that everything is safe. I am the one who has spent only three months a year at home. Yet I know, beyond question, that my parents are the best in the whole world. I am the one who speaks two languages, but can't spell either. I am the one who has devotions from a Spanish Bible.

I am the one who wears a thousand masks, one for each day and time. I am the one who learned to be all I'm expected to be, but is still not sure of who I really am. I am the one who chooses my college by where my friends are because nobody understands an MK like another MK. I am the one who laughs and cries, sings and prays, gets angry and doubts, fears and questions, expects and receives, hopes and dreams. And I am one who cares.

I am an MK, and I am proud of it!

--Anonymous MK