We all arrived back home safely. We landed on time in Detoit and were back to the church parking lot by 9:00 pm. We had just a wonderful week working with the people in Guatemala. We saw God at work in Guatemala in so many ways.
We want to say thank you to all of you who followed our blog and prayed so faithfully for our team. God answered prayers in mighty ways throughout the entire week.
Blessings!
Donna
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wednesday: 01/21/09
Today was our last day in Guatemala! While we are all sad to be leaving, we are certainly glad to being going back home to see our families and apply what we have learned to our communities. This morning we enjoyed FINALLY seeing the top of the volcanoes! They began spewing steam early this morning and they continued to spew steam for the rest of the day! We started the morning finishing the fronts of the houses by putting on the windows and doors.
As custom with the last day of the trip, we also dedicated the houses that we have spent all week building. We gathered up all of our gift baskets that had a Bible, water jug, brooms, tortilla cloths and food along with other things the family can use in their new home! We had chairs and tables delivered and many of us had a blast riding in the back of the delivery truck, holding on for dear life!! We delivered the chairs and tables to the houses and then gathered up at the church where we held distributions. We split into two groups and one house went up into the village while the other group went down in the village. One of the highlights of the day was at the last house that group two dedicated. Two brothers and their families both got houses and when they were asked if they knew Jesus, they answered no, but they would like to know him. Mario, our translator, who is a graduate student at the Seminary here, prayed with them and they prayed with Mario and ACCEPTED CHRIST INTO THEIR HEARTS! What an amazing thing for all of us to experience, not to mention their family! Pray for their families that they start learning about Christ and pray that their walk with the Lord is a blessed and filled with joy and happiness! Please continue to pray for good health for our travels on our way back home to Michigan.
We all miss you guys and can't wait to see you!!!
Written By: Stacy Westhouse and Jordan Crandell
As custom with the last day of the trip, we also dedicated the houses that we have spent all week building. We gathered up all of our gift baskets that had a Bible, water jug, brooms, tortilla cloths and food along with other things the family can use in their new home! We had chairs and tables delivered and many of us had a blast riding in the back of the delivery truck, holding on for dear life!! We delivered the chairs and tables to the houses and then gathered up at the church where we held distributions. We split into two groups and one house went up into the village while the other group went down in the village. One of the highlights of the day was at the last house that group two dedicated. Two brothers and their families both got houses and when they were asked if they knew Jesus, they answered no, but they would like to know him. Mario, our translator, who is a graduate student at the Seminary here, prayed with them and they prayed with Mario and ACCEPTED CHRIST INTO THEIR HEARTS! What an amazing thing for all of us to experience, not to mention their family! Pray for their families that they start learning about Christ and pray that their walk with the Lord is a blessed and filled with joy and happiness! Please continue to pray for good health for our travels on our way back home to Michigan.
We all miss you guys and can't wait to see you!!!
Written By: Stacy Westhouse and Jordan Crandell
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Tuesday Evening
Today we experienced something that less than 1% of Guatemalans have seen themselves. Not because they can't, but because they choose not too. Joel VanDyk had time to take us to the city dump and give us more insight to a forgotten people of Guatemala. These people earn their living off the dump. They actually live here, marry, have children, and die here. This group of about 11,000 are a proud people and work sun-up to sun-down for a meager $5 (at the most) a day. We entered the dump through a cemetary surrounded by turkey vultures and overlooked the dump from above. With the eariness of gloom and death all around, Joel took a passage from Judges 19 and helped open our eyes to see that God hovers everywhere. He cares for ALL his creatures and grace DOES flow like water and pools at the bottom. There is hope for the hopeless. Now, what do we do with this? That is the real question. Where do you start after seeing a picture like that, something that will forever be embedded into your memory? Randy Ellens' devotions this morning really hit home when he challenged us to be uncomfortable, to look where God can use us in our communties at home. God gave us all gifts and talents-don't look the other way when we get home. Look where God is . . . even the places we consider to be the "dark" places. It's truely God's hand at work here.
As for the morning, we split into 2 groups again. Some went to Love the Child while others went to help at the Seminary. This consisted of various tasks like painting, organizing, and lots of carpentry. We have been surviving the crazy driving here and dodging chicken buses! Your prayers and notes of encouragement are a tremendous blessing. We will be doing the dedications for the houses tomorrow and covet your prayers for the families who receive them.
"Above all, love others deeply . . . serve with the strength God provides, so in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever." 1 Peter 4:8a,11
Tony & Allisun Westhouse
As for the morning, we split into 2 groups again. Some went to Love the Child while others went to help at the Seminary. This consisted of various tasks like painting, organizing, and lots of carpentry. We have been surviving the crazy driving here and dodging chicken buses! Your prayers and notes of encouragement are a tremendous blessing. We will be doing the dedications for the houses tomorrow and covet your prayers for the families who receive them.
"Above all, love others deeply . . . serve with the strength God provides, so in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever." 1 Peter 4:8a,11
Tony & Allisun Westhouse
Monday, January 19, 2009
Monday Evening
Today we split up into two groups again. Two vans went to the orphanage and the other van and pickup truck went to the village. We constructed the last two homes and put fronts on 11 of the 15 homes. The last two fronts will be completed tomorrow. Some of us spent the day with the kids around the last two homes. What great kids they were! It was a smaller group and they were so polite and fun to be with. We started out getting to know them by playing games like Duck, Duck, Goose and London Bridges and games with the parachute. After lunch we told them the story about Jesus' death and resurrection and they colored a picture and made cross necklaces. We also did some songs with the puppets. They LOVED the puppets! Before we left we used the puppets to pass out crayons, toys and crackers to all of the kids. They had to stand in line and ask "por favor" and the zebra would hand them a treat. They loved it!
This group of kids seemed like they had not had crayons of their own and were so thrilled to be given the gifts.
While the construction crew was finishing up we moved to the area where we did VBS on Saturday and played games with the kids there. Here there was a much larger group so we played a lot of group and relay games with them. They loved passing the football between their legs, over their heads, hopping on one foot with it, twirling in circles with it all in relay teams. We ended with rousing renditions of Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes, The Chicken Dance, The Hokey Pokey, and Father Abraham! From there we all drove to a church in the village. That is where we set up our distribution center. As families from the village came through, we gave them food staples, hygiene kits and clothing for their families. There were 130 families blessed through this distribution. It was a blessing to us distributing to watch the faces of these parents as they came through the line. Many of them were deeply touched.
Blessing to all of you. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
Leon and Carla Proctor
This group of kids seemed like they had not had crayons of their own and were so thrilled to be given the gifts.
While the construction crew was finishing up we moved to the area where we did VBS on Saturday and played games with the kids there. Here there was a much larger group so we played a lot of group and relay games with them. They loved passing the football between their legs, over their heads, hopping on one foot with it, twirling in circles with it all in relay teams. We ended with rousing renditions of Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes, The Chicken Dance, The Hokey Pokey, and Father Abraham! From there we all drove to a church in the village. That is where we set up our distribution center. As families from the village came through, we gave them food staples, hygiene kits and clothing for their families. There were 130 families blessed through this distribution. It was a blessing to us distributing to watch the faces of these parents as they came through the line. Many of them were deeply touched.
Blessing to all of you. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
Leon and Carla Proctor
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sunday Evening
Its been another incredible day in Guatemala. We surprised ourselves by having all 40 members of our team ready and out of the door 3 minutes before we needed to leave for church this morning. We worshipped at Daniel and Milly's church. Pastor John gave the sermon and even attempted a Spanish joke with questionable results. We enjoyed singing Spanish worship songs with their praise band. Although not all of us understood what words we were singing, most tunes were familiar. It was a wonderful experience to worship our Lord together with the people of Guatemala. After the service we headed to Antigua for lunch and shopping. We ate at Las Antorchas. It was a beautiful restaurant and the food was delicious! Shopping at the market was a new experience for us. We found out that bartering was more challenging than expected. Everyone had fun and enjoyed the bright sights and sounds of the market. Before heading back to the mission, we all enjoyed a "world-famous" Magnum ice cream bar (and this time Don and Mary didn't pay quadruple the worth for thier bars). The trip back to the mission house proved to be a challenge due to a parade through the streets of Antigua. We spent some time stuck behind a chicken bus waiting for the parade to pass by. Back at the mission house, Paul, the coffee plantation owner, gave us a tour of the plantation that the mission house is on. His gardens were beautiful and the variety of plants was incredible. We had many guests at dinner due to the invitation that was given to the congregation to join us at the mission house. We served over 100 people for dinner. After dinner, we gathered upstairs for a time of singing. We sang some songs in English, others in Spanish, and a few in both languages at once. Nate and Jordan played/sang "In Christ Alone". It was a blessing to worship the same God in two different languages. Thank-you for your prayers.
Posted by Laura and Anna VanWyk
Posted by Laura and Anna VanWyk
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Saturday Evening
As Donna said earlier, we split up into 2 groups, one going to visit Amor del Nino, Love the Child, orphanage which is run by Steve and Sheryl Osborn. What wonderful people! They moved houses and they moved into a larger home. It is 2 homes; one was originally made for a daughter and her family and the other house was the mother-in-law's apartment. They are able to house all of their children there and they are able to stay at the property too! What a blessing for them to be close to their children! Bev and I (Jordan) were talking while we were 'Dutch Cleaning' as Steve said (scrubbing the room top to bottom) how God truly knows what is going on and knows the needs of each family!
We started off visiting the children, seeing old friends like Hannah and Jose as well as many others. We read them the Christmas story with Anna VanWyk translating for us and then we spent 15 minutes coloring Christmas pages with the children! After this, the children ate lunch and it was incredible to hear them shout their prayer. Each child shouting their praises and prayers to God in the loudest voices! It was amazing! After lunch we began painting the dining room. We painted it white and ended up painting part of another room. We really worked hard and had a lot of fun while doing it, getting special help from our 'supervisor' Hannah. While all of this was happening, some of the guys who came with us were helping Steve build a play set for the children! We didn't get it quite finished so we will finish it on Monday when we return to the orphanage. After we finished painting, we played with the children outside, taking pictures with them and letting them take pictures for us and we all enjoyed jumping on the trampoline with the children. Their smiles were all so bright that it cleared up the already cloudy sky! We learned a lot about the situations of the children who were housed there and they all have incredible stories! All of the children are so loving and wonderful! It was an amazing day that showed God's love in every person that we came across!
We have wonderful news! Rol's Bible which has been missing for the past year has been found and is in Alabama!!!!! Another answered prayer!
Hello to Bev's mom Nellie in Florida and her neighbor Julie in Moline!
This posting is from Trish. Today was a big day in the village for both building and VBS. We had to walk a long way to find a space we could sit with children and play and hold a VBS. By the time we got there the original 12 children had grown to aprox 100. Stories with lots of pictures, bubbles, balloons, "crayolas" pages and pages of pictures to color kept us busy long after our energy was used up.
We blew and blew to inflate a giant ball for 30 minutes that was bounced unto the edge of a Casa (house) punctured and immediently ended that activity we were hoping would take a long time. So a prayer for children was answered abundently! All the VBS ladies were glad to be in the first van back to the Mission house tonight. The weather was cool, windy and very dusty. Hot showers and hot meals are a true blessings.
Mothers with families of many children were happy for a break for the day also stood at the edges of our activities and heard about Jesus also. Children were eager for attention and listened intently to learn a new song and story about Jesus feeding the five thousand. Pray for the many in that village who did not get a break from the press of daily tasks, not enough clothes to keep warm and unknown if there would be a meal. Every day here is an adventure of amazing proportions. Hello to all at HCA/CCG, GFS, Kids, and Mom at Brookcrest. Thanks Mom for your prayers. Love, Trish
We started off visiting the children, seeing old friends like Hannah and Jose as well as many others. We read them the Christmas story with Anna VanWyk translating for us and then we spent 15 minutes coloring Christmas pages with the children! After this, the children ate lunch and it was incredible to hear them shout their prayer. Each child shouting their praises and prayers to God in the loudest voices! It was amazing! After lunch we began painting the dining room. We painted it white and ended up painting part of another room. We really worked hard and had a lot of fun while doing it, getting special help from our 'supervisor' Hannah. While all of this was happening, some of the guys who came with us were helping Steve build a play set for the children! We didn't get it quite finished so we will finish it on Monday when we return to the orphanage. After we finished painting, we played with the children outside, taking pictures with them and letting them take pictures for us and we all enjoyed jumping on the trampoline with the children. Their smiles were all so bright that it cleared up the already cloudy sky! We learned a lot about the situations of the children who were housed there and they all have incredible stories! All of the children are so loving and wonderful! It was an amazing day that showed God's love in every person that we came across!
We have wonderful news! Rol's Bible which has been missing for the past year has been found and is in Alabama!!!!! Another answered prayer!
Hello to Bev's mom Nellie in Florida and her neighbor Julie in Moline!
This posting is from Trish. Today was a big day in the village for both building and VBS. We had to walk a long way to find a space we could sit with children and play and hold a VBS. By the time we got there the original 12 children had grown to aprox 100. Stories with lots of pictures, bubbles, balloons, "crayolas" pages and pages of pictures to color kept us busy long after our energy was used up.
We blew and blew to inflate a giant ball for 30 minutes that was bounced unto the edge of a Casa (house) punctured and immediently ended that activity we were hoping would take a long time. So a prayer for children was answered abundently! All the VBS ladies were glad to be in the first van back to the Mission house tonight. The weather was cool, windy and very dusty. Hot showers and hot meals are a true blessings.
Mothers with families of many children were happy for a break for the day also stood at the edges of our activities and heard about Jesus also. Children were eager for attention and listened intently to learn a new song and story about Jesus feeding the five thousand. Pray for the many in that village who did not get a break from the press of daily tasks, not enough clothes to keep warm and unknown if there would be a meal. Every day here is an adventure of amazing proportions. Hello to all at HCA/CCG, GFS, Kids, and Mom at Brookcrest. Thanks Mom for your prayers. Love, Trish
Saturday Morning
We woke up to a beautiful morning. Cooler temperatures yet. It has been very cool since we have been here. Yesterdays temps were low 60's with quite a strong breeze.
Today, we will be splitting up the team into two groups. One will be going to Steve Osborn who with his wife Shyrel run the Love the Child orphanage. We will be doing some work projects for him as well as have some time to play with the children. Steve has let us know that he has had 31 cases of chicken pox in the house in the last week or so.
The other group will go back to the village today to do some more building and Bible school.
We will post again this evening when we are back to the house.
Thank you for your prayers!
Donna
Today, we will be splitting up the team into two groups. One will be going to Steve Osborn who with his wife Shyrel run the Love the Child orphanage. We will be doing some work projects for him as well as have some time to play with the children. Steve has let us know that he has had 31 cases of chicken pox in the house in the last week or so.
The other group will go back to the village today to do some more building and Bible school.
We will post again this evening when we are back to the house.
Thank you for your prayers!
Donna
Friday, January 16, 2009
Friday 01/16/09
This morning began with a bit of a mishap. A few of the rooms had their alarm clocks set for Michigan time, which is an hour ahead of Guatemala. So they came down for breakfast an hour early. Everyone had a little laugh and then went off to devotions and singing time.
Then we went to the village. There we built homes and did Bible School with the children in the streets. The story we did for Bible school was of Jesus' birth. There was a good turn out and a couple of activities based on the story. While some people where doing VBS, others were busy building. Six different homes where built thoughout the day and cement in three of them, and will finish cementing on Saturday. On Wednesday we will do the house dedications for all of the homes. Now we are all finishing up with dinner. Samuel, Juan Marcos, Steve and Shyrel Osborn, and Max and Teresa and Family joined us for dinner.
Written By: Elise Wiegers and Stacy Westhouse
Day 1
Sorry, everyone, I tried to post last night and computer technology beat me.
We did arrive safely. God is so good! He even provided a police escort for a couple of our vans that got lost getting out of the airport and Guatemala City yesterday. Yes, it happened again but this time they asked a police officer for help and got an escort. It was kind of cool.
Prayers were answered. All of the luggage arrived. We now have everything with us in order to do the work we need to do.
It is great to be here again and see all the people we have come to know and love over the past years. Samuel greeted us at the airport with a smile on his face that never seems to leave. John King was there as well and graciously took our cooks to the supermarket to shop for our weeks supply of food. We especially enjoy the warmer weather of low 70's.
Last evening we enjoyed a great meal at Pollo Compernos. When we got back to the mission house it wasn't long and everyone was ready for bed. We had all lights out and everyone in bed by 10:00. Even the teenagers. That has to be a record. We were all tired after losing a night of sleep.
Please continue to pray for us. It is only through prayer that these trips are even possible and go as smoothly as they do. Thanks for all your prayers the entire team appreciates them.
God Bless!
Donna
We did arrive safely. God is so good! He even provided a police escort for a couple of our vans that got lost getting out of the airport and Guatemala City yesterday. Yes, it happened again but this time they asked a police officer for help and got an escort. It was kind of cool.
Prayers were answered. All of the luggage arrived. We now have everything with us in order to do the work we need to do.
It is great to be here again and see all the people we have come to know and love over the past years. Samuel greeted us at the airport with a smile on his face that never seems to leave. John King was there as well and graciously took our cooks to the supermarket to shop for our weeks supply of food. We especially enjoy the warmer weather of low 70's.
Last evening we enjoyed a great meal at Pollo Compernos. When we got back to the mission house it wasn't long and everyone was ready for bed. We had all lights out and everyone in bed by 10:00. Even the teenagers. That has to be a record. We were all tired after losing a night of sleep.
Please continue to pray for us. It is only through prayer that these trips are even possible and go as smoothly as they do. Thanks for all your prayers the entire team appreciates them.
God Bless!
Donna
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