The day started out with devotions where whoever wanted to could speak up and tell a time when they witnessed God this week or felt they had missed an opportunity to share Jesus this week. We then loaded the vans to embark on our last adventure to the village. We finished putting the fronts on the last two houses and then prepared for dedications. The team dedicated the first two houses together and then we split up into two groups to dedicate the last 10 houses. At each house a member of the team spoke to the family telling them that the houses came from God, asked about their religious beliefs, and asked if they wanted to accept God into their heart. We gave them house warming gifts which included household items, an audio bible, an adult bible, and a children's bible. To wrap up we prayed with them, sang the doxology, and lit firecrackers. One of the houses in particular had children in need of a bed because the children were staying at their grandparents. Donations from team members allowed a bed to be purchased for the children which will arrive next week. Shout out to Josh, Pablo, and Juan Marcos for translating all day!
Afterwards, two vans went to Antigua to finish shopping while the other van dropped of the locks to the houses and went to the feeding center to play with the kids. Our last meal was a glorious pizza FIESTA!! Team meeting is at 9:30pm and the luggage van will be here around 3am to take us back to the frozen tundra. Thank you for all of your prayers throughout the week, please continue to pray for safe travel, on time flights, and patience.
Cindy, Shawn, and Courtney VanderWoude
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Tuesday!
Today was a different day for many of us. We started our day with a delicious breakfast, prepared by our amazing cooks. We headed upstairs after breakfast for a time of praise and worship, lead by Dellen, as he talked about God's will and God's purpose and plan for our lives. As we looked out the window at the volcano as we sang, we all truly saw how great our God is!
After devotions, we loaded up the vans and headed to the El Tejar Dump. Many people think of a dump as a place that we get rid of trash and don't have to deal with it anymore. In Guatemala, this is not the case. People work and live in the dump. As a truck unloads, people rush to dig through the trash, looking for anything of value that they can sell and make money off of. We prayed, sang, and handed out lunches: a sandwich, an orange, a bag of chips, and a juice box to the people who live and work there. They were very appreciative and by the smiles on their faces, you could tell that this was a blessing.
After going to the Dump, we split up. One van went to the village and worked on finishing concrete and the fronts of the houses that we built this week. The other two vans went to the orphanage for the remainder of the day. I went to the orphanage and it was really cool to see how the kids interacted with us. They didn't know us before we walked in, but yet they were really excited and willing to play with us and let us hold them. Many of us by the end of the day wanted to smuggle a couple kids in our suitcases! :)
Westhouses and I both had the opportunity to host the families of the kids that we sponsor at the Feeding Center. For those that don't know what the Feeding Center is, it is a place where certain kids, handpicked by Lazaro, come three times a week and receive a hot meal, homework help, and do crafts and sing songs. Joselyn, the girl that my family sponsors, came along with her mom Dency, her brothers Obel and Johnathan, and her new 20 day old sister Kenya. Joselyn is pretty much my little sister from another country, and it was really fun to get to know her better and learn new things....like the fact that her whole family would like to see snow someday! We spent time looking at pictures and coloring. It was a blessing to be able to see her again!
Tomorrow we look forward to house dedications and our last day in the village! Overall, we all really enjoyed our day! Please keep our team in your prayers as many people have been sick with different things, and please pray for safe travels on Thursday as we travel back to Michigan!
Rachael Bosse
After devotions, we loaded up the vans and headed to the El Tejar Dump. Many people think of a dump as a place that we get rid of trash and don't have to deal with it anymore. In Guatemala, this is not the case. People work and live in the dump. As a truck unloads, people rush to dig through the trash, looking for anything of value that they can sell and make money off of. We prayed, sang, and handed out lunches: a sandwich, an orange, a bag of chips, and a juice box to the people who live and work there. They were very appreciative and by the smiles on their faces, you could tell that this was a blessing.
After going to the Dump, we split up. One van went to the village and worked on finishing concrete and the fronts of the houses that we built this week. The other two vans went to the orphanage for the remainder of the day. I went to the orphanage and it was really cool to see how the kids interacted with us. They didn't know us before we walked in, but yet they were really excited and willing to play with us and let us hold them. Many of us by the end of the day wanted to smuggle a couple kids in our suitcases! :)
Westhouses and I both had the opportunity to host the families of the kids that we sponsor at the Feeding Center. For those that don't know what the Feeding Center is, it is a place where certain kids, handpicked by Lazaro, come three times a week and receive a hot meal, homework help, and do crafts and sing songs. Joselyn, the girl that my family sponsors, came along with her mom Dency, her brothers Obel and Johnathan, and her new 20 day old sister Kenya. Joselyn is pretty much my little sister from another country, and it was really fun to get to know her better and learn new things....like the fact that her whole family would like to see snow someday! We spent time looking at pictures and coloring. It was a blessing to be able to see her again!
Tomorrow we look forward to house dedications and our last day in the village! Overall, we all really enjoyed our day! Please keep our team in your prayers as many people have been sick with different things, and please pray for safe travels on Thursday as we travel back to Michigan!
Rachael Bosse
Monday, January 15, 2018
Monday Update!
Hi everyone!
Today was a busy, yet fulfilling, day. We started out with devotions bright and early! Tico, who works for Grace Ministries, was our leader of devotions this morning. He focused on Mark 10:45, which states, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." He explained that we come here with the hopes of blessing Guatemalan's with our service, yet we often leave feeling as though they blessed us more than we have blessed them. So far, that has been a true and humbling experience for us.
After devotions, most of us took off in the vans towards the village we have been working in the past week, while a few others went to the market to purchase housewarming gifts for Dedication Day, which will be on Wednesday. We have to finish building the last of the 12 houses, pour concrete for two houses, and put the fronts on six more houses. While building the first house of the day, we had an unexpected, adorable visitor. He is shown below. We named him Carl, and the family of the house plans to keep him (after they asked if we brought it with us).
After building houses, we went to the church in the village for VBS. We decorated the coat of many colors with just short of 100 kids, after singing songs and listening to a Bible story. After VBS, we set up for food distribution. As a first timer in Guatemala (Lauren), that was a really awesome experience for me. 150 families came through for food and supplies. We told every family, "Dios te bendiga," which means, "God bless you." We were given lots of hugs and "muchas gracias" in return. The gratitude of everyone who came through was incredible. If anyone felt as if they hadn't done anything meaningful enough on this trip, food distribution changed that and helped show us that God brought us here for more reasons than one.
We finished off the day with a wonderful dinner and delicious dessert made by Sandie, Lynelle, (and Morgan today). Now we are playing games, sharing stories, and settling in for the night.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. Please pray that we have a great last few days here and that God works through us in many more incredible ways. Please continue to keep Donna's sister, Linda, in your prayers. Donna told us that the antibiotics appear to be doing what they should be doing, but continued prayers are appreciated for a complete and quick recovery!!
-Nick DeVries and Lauren Myers
Today was a busy, yet fulfilling, day. We started out with devotions bright and early! Tico, who works for Grace Ministries, was our leader of devotions this morning. He focused on Mark 10:45, which states, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." He explained that we come here with the hopes of blessing Guatemalan's with our service, yet we often leave feeling as though they blessed us more than we have blessed them. So far, that has been a true and humbling experience for us.
After devotions, most of us took off in the vans towards the village we have been working in the past week, while a few others went to the market to purchase housewarming gifts for Dedication Day, which will be on Wednesday. We have to finish building the last of the 12 houses, pour concrete for two houses, and put the fronts on six more houses. While building the first house of the day, we had an unexpected, adorable visitor. He is shown below. We named him Carl, and the family of the house plans to keep him (after they asked if we brought it with us).
After building houses, we went to the church in the village for VBS. We decorated the coat of many colors with just short of 100 kids, after singing songs and listening to a Bible story. After VBS, we set up for food distribution. As a first timer in Guatemala (Lauren), that was a really awesome experience for me. 150 families came through for food and supplies. We told every family, "Dios te bendiga," which means, "God bless you." We were given lots of hugs and "muchas gracias" in return. The gratitude of everyone who came through was incredible. If anyone felt as if they hadn't done anything meaningful enough on this trip, food distribution changed that and helped show us that God brought us here for more reasons than one.
We finished off the day with a wonderful dinner and delicious dessert made by Sandie, Lynelle, (and Morgan today). Now we are playing games, sharing stories, and settling in for the night.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. Please pray that we have a great last few days here and that God works through us in many more incredible ways. Please continue to keep Donna's sister, Linda, in your prayers. Donna told us that the antibiotics appear to be doing what they should be doing, but continued prayers are appreciated for a complete and quick recovery!!
-Nick DeVries and Lauren Myers
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PS-This picture is for Grandpa DeVries!
You can put us to work when we get back :)
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Sunday, January 14, 2018
Sunday Sunday Sunday
Hi everyone!
We started our day with a late morning and a delicious cinnamon roll breakfast! There was about an hour in between breakfast and devotions, so some of us went back to bed (Courtney) and others just took it easy. Joel Vandyke, a fellow Michigander who now lives here in Guatemala, spoke to us this morning about 'recalibrating our vision' and stepping out of our comfort zone - a very broad message with several points that really applied to our group, as well as our time here. A lot of us who have been here before were super glad to see him and his family!
We ate a pulled pork dinner for lunch and split up from there! Several of us went to Chimaltenango for some shopping, took a tour of the grounds, sun tanned, went to a Guatemalan church service..
Dinner was a smorgasbord of goods and all of us changed into our stretchy pants afterward.
Right now we're playing cards, reading books, and prepping for food / health kit distributions tomorrow.
Overall it was a great day filled with sun and fellowship!
Megan Haveman and Jamie Bouma
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Saturday
Today several of us took a van ride to spend the day at Amor Del Nino (Love the Child) orphanage. The group of us had a wonderful time playing, feeding, holding, rocking the children. The children were so sweet and (most) were not afraid of us, even though we were strangers (and gringos). They played and held on to us and laughed with us right away. There was no language barrier since smiles and hugs need no interpreter. We were also blessed to spend time talking with Cheryl Osborn who gave us updates. The orphanage is a little down in number of children, but it is a sign that things are starting to change for the better.
This was my first time at the orphanage and I was impressed at what a beautiful facility it was. The staff is very kind and you can tell they have a very loving relationship with all the children. I loved listening to the children all praying in unison and singing a little song right before they ate lunch. It was a lovely picture of a big, happy family.
The time went by very quickly and it was hard to say Adios at the end of the day. A bunch of the toddlers stood by the fence and waved to us. But it was a very, very good day and I'm still feeling happy from this incredible experience.
Susan Wiegers
Two vans and the pick up truck went to the village where we are working this week. When we arrived we found some really tight parking or just plain lack of it. After several moves and running out of mountain to park, fortunately for me the friendly pastor from the church that we were holding the VBS let us park in the private church parking lot. We were able to get all the vehicles parked and start the steep trek up to the building sites. After two beautiful, comfortable days of work we are getting close to our goals of 12 houses. We have a total of 10 houses built and 6 houses with concrete floors completed. The interaction with the future home owners has been a lot of fun, and their reactions when we have it partially completed is a truly humbling experience.
Dellen Vander Woude
This was my first time at the orphanage and I was impressed at what a beautiful facility it was. The staff is very kind and you can tell they have a very loving relationship with all the children. I loved listening to the children all praying in unison and singing a little song right before they ate lunch. It was a lovely picture of a big, happy family.
The time went by very quickly and it was hard to say Adios at the end of the day. A bunch of the toddlers stood by the fence and waved to us. But it was a very, very good day and I'm still feeling happy from this incredible experience.
Susan Wiegers
Two vans and the pick up truck went to the village where we are working this week. When we arrived we found some really tight parking or just plain lack of it. After several moves and running out of mountain to park, fortunately for me the friendly pastor from the church that we were holding the VBS let us park in the private church parking lot. We were able to get all the vehicles parked and start the steep trek up to the building sites. After two beautiful, comfortable days of work we are getting close to our goals of 12 houses. We have a total of 10 houses built and 6 houses with concrete floors completed. The interaction with the future home owners has been a lot of fun, and their reactions when we have it partially completed is a truly humbling experience.
Dellen Vander Woude
Friday, January 12, 2018
Friday Updates
Today started out with devotions led by Dave Westhouse. He discussed more in depth our theme for the week, "Gods will, nothing more, nothing less."
After devotions we set out into the village. The village we are working in is actually rather unique. All of the houses that we are building this week are for the people who make their living off from scavenging the El Tejar city dump (not to be confused with the big Guatemala City dump). The El Tejar city dump is right here in the same city we are staying in and the houses we are building are only about 15-20 minutes away from the mission house. The people who make their living off from the dump scavenge through the days trash for anything of any value making only about $5-6 American dollars a day. For those of you who know Lazero, the El Tejar dump has been a big mission for him personally for the past few years. These family's are so grateful for what we are doing and it is very exciting to see how much of a difference we can make with a 12'x12' steel and lumber house.
Today we finished framing 6 of the 12 houses we have to do this week. These 6 still need fronts and concrete but we are still way further than we thought we would be.
The kids in the village are great, very respectful and friendly. We did not have VBS today but that will start tomorrow and judging by the amount of kids we saw today I think it will be a very good turn out.
Everyone is all back to good health for the most part but we can always use your prayers to keep this bug from spreading (for those of you who read yesterdays).
Todays Prayer Requests:
Donna Westhouse got a phone call tonight that her sister is now in the hospital with pneumonia and is very ill . They are looking into options if antibiotics do not work. Praying for the antibiotics to work and for complete healing for her sister Linda. Also prayers for the family and that Donna has peace to still lead the team with the amazing organization and calmness that she always has.
Many thanks from all of us here!
Blessings
-Emily Westhouse
If you did not read yesterdays blog:
Prayer Requests would just be for good health for the group for the rest of the week. Its been a rough start with 2 people getting the flu and a few coming down here with some pretty nasty colds. We are taking extra precautions with hand sanitizers and Lysol sprays to keep the germs away but we know your prayers are the best kind of flu preventative.
We also arrived at the mission house to find out that they have disconnected the landline here so if you have any emergency information that you need to get to the team down here Donna Westhouse has an international plan on her cell phone and you can reach her by calling the phone number below.
(616) 277-6315
After devotions we set out into the village. The village we are working in is actually rather unique. All of the houses that we are building this week are for the people who make their living off from scavenging the El Tejar city dump (not to be confused with the big Guatemala City dump). The El Tejar city dump is right here in the same city we are staying in and the houses we are building are only about 15-20 minutes away from the mission house. The people who make their living off from the dump scavenge through the days trash for anything of any value making only about $5-6 American dollars a day. For those of you who know Lazero, the El Tejar dump has been a big mission for him personally for the past few years. These family's are so grateful for what we are doing and it is very exciting to see how much of a difference we can make with a 12'x12' steel and lumber house.
Today we finished framing 6 of the 12 houses we have to do this week. These 6 still need fronts and concrete but we are still way further than we thought we would be.
The kids in the village are great, very respectful and friendly. We did not have VBS today but that will start tomorrow and judging by the amount of kids we saw today I think it will be a very good turn out.
Everyone is all back to good health for the most part but we can always use your prayers to keep this bug from spreading (for those of you who read yesterdays).
Todays Prayer Requests:
Donna Westhouse got a phone call tonight that her sister is now in the hospital with pneumonia and is very ill . They are looking into options if antibiotics do not work. Praying for the antibiotics to work and for complete healing for her sister Linda. Also prayers for the family and that Donna has peace to still lead the team with the amazing organization and calmness that she always has.
Many thanks from all of us here!
Blessings
-Emily Westhouse
If you did not read yesterdays blog:
Prayer Requests would just be for good health for the group for the rest of the week. Its been a rough start with 2 people getting the flu and a few coming down here with some pretty nasty colds. We are taking extra precautions with hand sanitizers and Lysol sprays to keep the germs away but we know your prayers are the best kind of flu preventative.
We also arrived at the mission house to find out that they have disconnected the landline here so if you have any emergency information that you need to get to the team down here Donna Westhouse has an international plan on her cell phone and you can reach her by calling the phone number below.
(616) 277-6315
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Thursday Updates
We have arrived!!! It is so great to be back in Guatemala and everyone is all very excited for the week to come.
We landed in Guatemala City yesterday at about 1:00. Everything went as smoothly as it possibly could. The bus and both of our flights made very good time with no delays as well as going through customs and getting our vans.
After our arrival we went into Antigua and spent the night in a hotel in the city. For those of you who were concerned, no we did not have to share our rooms with any critters. :) We went for dinner at Pollo Camperos (a fried chicken restaurant that we go to every year) and all went back to the hotel exhausted from our travels.
This morning we woke up and had a provided breakfast at the hotel of toast, eggs, and fruit after which we all headed out into Antigua. The group split up and spent the day shopping in the market which proceeded with lunch at The Mono Loco. We were all quite full after lunch after ordering meals off the menu varying from burgers, quesadillas, burritos, pizzas, and "Nachos as Big as your Head".
After lunch we got to go back to the mission house and settled in before our grilled hotdog dinner tonight. Everyone is all settled in, unpacked and winding down for the night playing cards before our first day of building tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will all be getting up for breakfast at 6:00 and going out to the village.
We are so excited to be here and we know it could not be possible without all of the support from everyone back at home. The prayers have been overwhelming and you could really feel that they have been with us as well as ahead of us.
Prayer Requests would just be for good health for the group for the rest of the week. Its been a rough start with 2 people getting the flu and a few coming down here with some pretty nasty colds. We are taking extra precautions with hand sanitizers and Lysol sprays to keep the germs away but we know your prayers are the best kind of flu preventative.
We also arrived at the mission house to find out that they have disconnected the landline here so if you have any emergency information that you need to get to the team down here Donna Westhouse has an international plan on her cell phone and you can reach her by calling the phone number below.
616-277-6315
Many blessings and we thank you for all of the prayers and the continued prayers while we are here.
-Emily Westhouse
We landed in Guatemala City yesterday at about 1:00. Everything went as smoothly as it possibly could. The bus and both of our flights made very good time with no delays as well as going through customs and getting our vans.
After our arrival we went into Antigua and spent the night in a hotel in the city. For those of you who were concerned, no we did not have to share our rooms with any critters. :) We went for dinner at Pollo Camperos (a fried chicken restaurant that we go to every year) and all went back to the hotel exhausted from our travels.
This morning we woke up and had a provided breakfast at the hotel of toast, eggs, and fruit after which we all headed out into Antigua. The group split up and spent the day shopping in the market which proceeded with lunch at The Mono Loco. We were all quite full after lunch after ordering meals off the menu varying from burgers, quesadillas, burritos, pizzas, and "Nachos as Big as your Head".
After lunch we got to go back to the mission house and settled in before our grilled hotdog dinner tonight. Everyone is all settled in, unpacked and winding down for the night playing cards before our first day of building tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will all be getting up for breakfast at 6:00 and going out to the village.
We are so excited to be here and we know it could not be possible without all of the support from everyone back at home. The prayers have been overwhelming and you could really feel that they have been with us as well as ahead of us.
Prayer Requests would just be for good health for the group for the rest of the week. Its been a rough start with 2 people getting the flu and a few coming down here with some pretty nasty colds. We are taking extra precautions with hand sanitizers and Lysol sprays to keep the germs away but we know your prayers are the best kind of flu preventative.
We also arrived at the mission house to find out that they have disconnected the landline here so if you have any emergency information that you need to get to the team down here Donna Westhouse has an international plan on her cell phone and you can reach her by calling the phone number below.
616-277-6315
Many blessings and we thank you for all of the prayers and the continued prayers while we are here.
-Emily Westhouse
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