In San Lucas

We have made our way to San Lucas Toliman.  A town of about 12000 people, but that serves 30-40k people. San Lucas will be our base camp for the next four days. We got here yesterday afternoon after traveling from Guatemala City on Sunday.  On Sunday we also spent some time at Eagles nest orphanage, where we spent a couple hours hold , reading books to, and just loving on the children.  The orphanage is always a hard day for some of us, as our hearts break for these little guys. It's was neat to see a couple of the kids that we remembered from 2 years ago, and for the first timers it was inspiring to see the love that the missionaries have for these kids.  This time my heart broke for a little guy named Berney.  When we got there the little kids were out walking around.  As they walked past us Berney slowed down to figure out why we were there.  Quickly I realize he had gotten separated from the group so I gave him my hand and led him to where he belonged. Later when we went in to see them he sought me out and had me pick him up and hold him.  It was both cute and heart breaking.  

After spending the night at the orphanage we got up Monday morning and went to meet a guy named Mike who is a missionary in Pana.  Mike runs a coffee shop and roastery and uses that as a place to share the gospel. He is just one of those people that exudes the love of Christ.  After having coffee with Moke we then went zip lining.  One of the cool things that happened zip lining was that Parker convince Zach Agrellas to try it.  Zach had never gone before (despite the many opportunities he has had ever time his family hosts a group), but because of the strong relationship that our young men have formed with Zach, this time he wanted to try (despite his fear of heights).  It was just neat to see that we as a team are connecting with and encouraging their family.

After zip lining we had to hurry to catch out boat ride to Terri's house, so we jumped in a line of tuk tuks (small motorcycle like taxis) that took us to the docks.  We then boated over to Terri's house where we had lunch, spent some time getting to know Terri, and a few of us (Parker, Nicholas, Chloe, Kassidy, and myself) decided to swim in the lake.  I can not tell you how beautiful it was looking up out of a volcanic crater lake.  It was then back on the boats to get to San Lucas. 

In San Lucas we got settled in, had dinner and started preparing for a week of house building and kids programs. Then... then it hit.  Practically all at once for four of us (Kassidy, Cheryl, Megan, and myself) then had the worst case of food poisoning I have ever experienced. Everyone of us said it was the worst sickness we have ever experienced. Luckily we each had our own bathroom to hang out in.  In the morning we sent the team on without us so that the sick ones could sleep and start to recover. For me it was hard to be sending the team without going with them. But it was a chance for the team to shine without Cheryl or my leadership. Later in the day, Kassidy, Kim, and I went up to the worksites to check on everyone and help lead the vbs that we were in charge of. They were doing great, working hard, and having a lot of fun. It's good to get building and exciting to be here in the villages. I love this part of Guatemala. The culture, the people, the beauty of God's world. This is an amazing place and God is an amazing God. 

Saturday

This could be the last blog for a few days as we are leaving the city tomorrow to head to the villages. Today was our last day with the women and children from el Refugio.  Today was a a hard day. Especially for many of the young people on our team who spent the day following children.  Not so easy with Guatemalan children, but I'll let Stephanie tell you more about that. For pray request I would ask that you pray for safe  travels as we head to the lake.  Also on a personal level I have been really missing Shannon and the kids, so pray that I can stay focused and that the kids will be extra good  good for Shannon.

Stephanie. 

Saturday was full of mixed emotions. We got to take a break from working and take the women and children to the water park n around but we also had to say goodbye to people that, over the past few days, we have grown close to and consider our family. Watching the excitement on, not only the kids' faces but on the mothers' faces was absolutely humbling, because this thing that we did seems so normal to everyday life in North America, a trip to Milton-Freewater a few minute away from us, is something that they can barely comprehend. I spent the day with one of the mothers and her 12 year old daughter going up and down the water slides, playing chicken, having competition after competition, all instigated by not the 12 year old daughter, but the mother. They became like children in a candy store and it was more fun to watch them have fun than to go down the slides. The relationships that we built with these families allowed those mothers to trust us with their children so that they could have the time of their lives, and to me, that is so much more important than any amount of painting, building, or work that we could do down here in Guatemala. Saying goodbye to these ladies and adorable little kids broke me as they completely melted down at the fact that their new found family were leaving them. It amazed me how close we can get to someone even with a language barrier and those women and children with forever be in my heart as I'm sure we will all be in theirs. Overall this trip even this far has allowed me to grow and gain a new perspective on my life and life in Christ and I am looking forward to the next week in the villages! I hope everything is going well at home (which yes, I am missing. Not really the house, but the people). Love you guys!

~Steph

Thursday June19

Yesterday A lot more low key than Wednesday. We spent the majority of the day at El Refugio, working on a variety of projects. I love seeing our team love on and play with the kids at the shelter. The joy that they share is incredible.  We added a little bit of motivation to get our projects done quickly, when we learned there was a paintball course next door to CAG (the school where Mark is principal), and that Thursday was half price day. But I've said too much. I'll let kassidy tell you about our day through her eyes. 

Hello everyone,

   Well today was full of lots of things. We spent the whole day at the women's shelter, El Rafugio. Everyone was put in a group, and each group was given a task to get done that day. My group had the some what overwhelming job of painting a house. It took most of the day, even with 4 or so of us working on it. Painting included scraping off the loose old paint, sweeping away spiders and dirt, and putting on a new coat of salmon pink paint. Others were working on painting the inside of the house, preping a play room for paint, playing with the kids, and making a cover for their new sandbox. Of course we never had more a few solid hours of work in a row, because there are always the little ones who come around and beg to help, or sit there and watch and just beg for attention. It's been a lot of fun to learn Spanish while speaking to them, they are very forgiving, and good at figuring out what we are trying to say. Then there is also lunch at about 1:00 everyday. Today one of the ladies, Marie, made us a meal that comes from her area of Guatemala. It was a full fish, head, eyeballs and all fried and set on our plate, with a few side dishes. 

Even through all of the fun we had today working and doing all that we did, my favorite part of the day was at the end of the day (4 pm) after we were done with work when we got to go paint balling!! It was a lot of fun, and was the first time that several of us had ever been. There was an amazing course, cool even in the standards of America. And the coolest thing about it was that EVERYONE in our group participated. All of the adults. Then we came home and finished our evening. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to unwind after a busy day. We are thankful that Kim and Mark were willing to take us, and be late for their dinner date just to let us have some fun. I'm looking forward to a lot more fun in the coming days, and some more great and life changing experiences. I hope everyone at home is all well.

Kassidy

Scrapping paint to make a place for the kids to play. (Notice the little guys helping out)

Yes all 18 of us...plus Mark and Kim Played.  It might have taken Peggy three games before she pulled the trigger, but whose counting.  

A couple pictures from the squatters village.

Wednesday - Villa Nueva (a squatters village in Linda Vista)

On Wednesday we visited a squatters village (which are in many was the poorest of the poor). Many of the people that live in areas like there's are there because during the 36+ tear civil war that ended in 1996 they fled the mountainous regions where the war was being fought to the city.  The city was significantly safer, but there was no place for them to go, so they just started building camps the the deep raveans or on the steep hillsides (just hoping the government was to busy with the war to get involved). And it worked now there are hundreds of thousands of people living in these areas.  I will let Cheryl and Chloe tell you some of the stories from their perspective. 

Cheryl. 

Today we traveled outside the city to a squatter's village, Linda Vista. What an amazing day! I personally loved today because it was a kid-filled day :)

The team was amazing to work with. We stayed up late the night prior, prepping for today, still not sure what to prepare for or expect. I was a bit stressed when we found out we probably wouldn't have enough craft supplies for all the kids, but we decided if Jesus could feed 5,000, he could stretch our supplies.

We walked to the first location, and began our day with about 180 kids. Nicholas was a pro at leading our team in the singing, and Kavin helped out with the guitar. At first, the kids weren't to sure about singing with us, but once we got out in the crowd and helped move their hands to the motions, they were ready to go! 

We followed the songs with a skit of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and then we did a craft with them (which, let's be honest, they were much better at then we were ;)). We finished our time there with another skit, the parable of the talents, and then headed to our second destination.

I have to admit, the 2nd school was my favorite, and definitely in the worst condition. Some of the kids recognized those of us from two years ago-pretty awesome! This was definitely the most chaotic setting. Parents were coming and going as we were trying to so the skits, but the kids soaked up the message regardless. Then we broke into groups and went into their classrooms to do the follow-up craft. I am thankful for my classroom!

We had a lunch break, then walked the around the village a bit, before walking down to the last location. This was definitely another favorite stop, but for other reasons. The kids here are 8th and 9th graders, and come on, they pretty much thought we were ridiculous :). Knowing it was an older aged group, we had talked about how we needed to really animate, do some singing competitions, bottom line- make fools out of ourselves :)....and it was AWESOME. Our teens stepped up, put themselves out there, and really captured the attention of these kids. I even had a hard time narrating I was so captured! On that note, all I can say is, I saw Jesus in our team today....I love that.

Love to you all, 

Cheryl 

Chloe:

Today we went to Linda Vista, a squatters village.  It was absolutely unimaginable for me what these people go through day by day. We went to 3 different schools today, singing songs, acting out skits, and doing a craft. I could definitely tell that these kids wanted us here. When we walked though the door to the schools, the kids' faces all lit up. I could see the joy in their eyes, and in the way that they tried so hard to communicate with us. But the real thing is, is that we don't need to communicate with these kids, to show them the love that they need. All they need is a smile or a hug, letting them know that we are here for them. Anyways that what I thought when it was happening. The truth to it is, it that we were there for us. Before I went to Linda Vista, I had a pretty good idea in my head of what this town and these people were going to be like. But I was wrong. Way wrong. We got to this town, and it completely opened my eyes to a whole new thought. These people living here in this squatters village have so much less then we can imagine. But in reality, they have more then every single one of us. They make the best of what they have with so little. This might not be everybody, but it is me. I have so many distractions at home, that I don't realize what I have aside from all of my distractions. I definitely do not take enough time each day to sit down and talk to God, or even think about him. No, not all of these people do that, but they have better relationships with just their neighbors, that I have with my best friends. Aside from that note, we met a man today, Garrison, who took us to all of the schools, and took us around the town a little bit. After today, during team time, we listened to a song called "Do Something." Garrison was the perfect example of everything that went on in the song. I encourage all of you to look that song up and really listen to the words. Garrison took action in this town, and even though he is successful enough to be able to live differently, he chooses to give up that life and go live with these people in need. I won't go into much detail about what he does, but it's a lot. He has a home where he takes in women and children and give them food and a roof. He takes in strangers that he's never met before, and cares for then until they aren't strong enough to care for themselves. He was amazing. He does so much more then that though. This day taught me to be so grateful for everything, and to make better relationships with my friends, family, and God. And to stop every once in a while from my distractions, and go see the world, and take action.

       -Chloe Pearson

A couple of thoughts about what we did on Tuesday.

We continue to be doing well. We have had a couple of great days down here. To broaden the scope of this blog. I am going to ask members of the ream to write about what they experience each day. So what follows are a couple of thoughts from Nicholas and Krystal about what we did on Tuesday.  

Nicholas:

Today our team visited El Refugio. El Refugio is a shelter for abused women and their families to go and have shelter from the horrible situations they may be in. As well as give them a place to stay, El Refugio teaches the women certain skills they will need so they can provide for their families when they leave the shelter. El Refugio is run by Mark and Kim Agrelas, the missionaries that we work with in Guatemala.

At El Refugio our team did a few jobs like fix a sandbox for the kids and paint some rooms in the home, as well as a few other tasks. The jobs, however, are not where our team really displayed the love of Jesus. We best displayed our faith with the relationships we made with the women and children at the shelter. All day people were playing with kids or talking with the women. The coolest thing about it is that it didn't matter whether or not we spoke Spanish or could communicate with words. The people were simply happy that someone was there to show them love and affection. We really lived out the saying "a smile is the universal language." The connections we made and the relationships we formed had an impact far greater than any work we could have done. I can't wait for the our group to continue to grow and make relationships with the people in Guatemala and continue to show Christ everywhere we go.

Krystal 

Today we got a tour of the Christian Academy of Guatemala, run by Mark and Kim. The school is primarily for the kids of missionaries and has grades K-12. I was amazed at the beauty of the school grounds and all the space the school has. We also went to El Refugio, which is a women's shelter that Mark and Kim run. We got the chance to meet two women at the shelter and their children, who were adorable and loved to play with us. Some of the things we got to do included making tortillas, painting walls, cleaning outside, and more. The women helped us paint the interior walls, and they had never painted before. But the women were laughing and having fun, which is what mattered. God was definitely present in our interactions with the women and children, and I look forward to going back on Thursday.

We are hear and doing well

We made it to Guatemala safely.  There were no problems, just a long day. Yesterday we went and saw the Christian academy of Guatemala (where mark is the principle and Kim is a teacher). We then went to el Refugio, which is the women's shelter where we will be spending much of this week. It was great to see the team playing with the children and working together. I'm excited for the next few days as we watch the team transform from a bunch of different groups to one team.  

On a different note.  The team is adjusting to some of the Guatemalan realities that we are not used to. Parker and others face bathrooms that just don't fit their size. And here they don't flush their toilet paper (the sewage systems can't handle it). In the picture Kassidy remembered a little late so was fixing her mistake.