After breakfast before heading into the village to pick up where we left off yesterday, as a full team went to experience the true reality of the life here in Guatemala.  We visited the local waste disposal area a.k.a the dump.  In the world we live in you could never imagine families living inside an area like this.  But the reality is, it is a real thing.  We went and spent time with the families there, passing out sandwiches, juice, chips and other snack items.  There was even small impromptu football/soccer game with the kids.  It was amazing to see such love, acceptance and happiness from the families there without having anything or knowing when or what their next meal might be.  Because they must salvage from the mounds of items other people have disregarded to find just that.  God bless these people, may their happiness and smiles never fade.  Also may He help us take away from this experience that happiness is not about material possessions, it comes from inside the heart, the mind, and most importantly your faith.
Chris Biggs

After going to the dump, we went back into the village and continued working on the houses we had started the day before. After lunch, a small group of us went to the local church to host Vacation Bible School, VBS. This was a really cool experience because we have the opportunity to work in the same village as last year, so we had the chance to see some of the friends we made, and check up on them. Lots of the kids from last year came back to VBS, and when they saw those they recognized, their faces lit up, and the biggest smiles formed on their faces. For our story, Josh, our translator, used those of us from the group as actors in his "skit," and told the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. We bought 5 little rolls, and we used the bead fish as the props, and the kids got really into it, and really seemed to enjoy it. After the story part was done, we did a craft and colored with them. Once the scheduled part was done, we took the outside with soccer balls and jump ropes, which they loved. After playing with the kids for about an hour, it was time to pack up. After many hugs, and many "see you laters" we piled back into the van to meet the rest of our team and head back to the mission house. Overall it was a great day, and we can't wait to go back and see the kids on Monday.
Becky Hendriksma

What a great day in Guatemala!  Honestly everyday spent here is a great day.  God shows up here around every corner, in the midst of moments spent in worship, van rides, building houses, playing with little ones and relaxing after dinner.  It isn't that God isn't present everywhere else.  It isn't that grace is less in days spent in Grand Rapids, or Detroit or Northwest Ohio.  Every person that made the choice to spend a week in this small community also, maybe unknowingly, made the choice to be more aware of the presence, mercy, justice, and heart of God.  We could see Jesus in the eyes of the mothers at the landfill this morning, we could hear him in the voices of the twenty or so kids who hung around our building sites all morning, and we could feel him in the hugs grateful recipients of His grace and love coming from us.  The mountains are beautiful, the roads winding, and the fellowship is great, but God's plan wasn't to bless us with those things along.  He wants in, he wants more, he wants us.  No matter how much we serve we can never out do God.  As much as we love we can never love others as much as he does.  As much as we receive we will never be able to translate the amazingness of God's grace to people better that he can himself.  We are thankful and overly blessed to be here, to be used and to be made ever more aware of God's grace.
Jamie DeVries