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