Friday: First Day in the Village

As first-timers on this trip, this day has turned out better than anything we ever imagined. For the VBS people, what started as a small game of futbol with a few energetic boys, soon became a crowd of near sixty kids.
We enjoyed quite a drive to the village, lasting almost two hours. We arrived around 10:45 and the building crew got to work right away. As the VBS group walked around to scout things out, we soon heard giggles coming from right near us. We looked over, and smiling goofily back at us were three young boys, in a tree right next to us. Juan asked their mother for ideas of a good, level spot to play. At her direction, we found the perfect area down the road a ways, at the bottom of a large hill. It was an ideal spot, with a flat clearing next to a pasture, plenty of shade, and enough room for plenty of fun. We started playing with the boys, and little by little, more kids wandered toward us. We blew up some balloons for them and we all had fun with some bubbles. Needless to say, our morning passed quickly and energetically.
At lunch, the children were asked to go back home and return at two. We sat down in the shade for our sack lunch, then went up the hill near the building sites to refill our water bottles and check up on the houses. The six houses were coming together well. Everyone was a bit tired, but seemed to be having a good experience.
The kids returned very soon, eager for more play time with us. We enjoyed a full afternoon of fun with the village children. Our day with the kids was concluded with a mass tickle-fight. A few children started poking us, tickling us, and giggling at our reactions, and soon, the entire mob of them was attacking us with tickles and laughter. At the end of the day, our faces hurt from smiling and laughing so much.
Too soon, it was time to leave, and we enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner back at the house. We are all weary after our day, and many of us will probably hit the hay soon.

Claire Jafri and Leah DeVries

Thursday, January 14, 2016 Day 1

We have all arrived safely in Guatemala.  Our travelling could not have gone any better, we even arrived a half an hour early in Guatemala.  The weather was a bit warm and humid in the city but now that we are out on the mountain, the temperatures have cooled and it is a very pleasant evening here.  The team is quite tired after traveling all day.  We left Moline ahead of schedule thinking we would have bad roads and we arrived in Chicago about 45 minutes earlier than we needed to as the roads were clear and no problems.  We had a quick layover in Houston and then it was on to Guatemala.  As we were all sitting at the restaurant tonight for dinner I was seeing a lot of people who looked like they weren't sure if they were hungry and wanted food or were tired and just wanted a bed.  We are all back at the mission house and at 9:30 at night more than half of the team has headed off to bed.

We have had a chance to reconnect with many of our friends here already.  John and Samuel met us at the airport.  Tico came in the restaurant to say hello and Lazero and the family have come by to say hello as well.  Juan Marcos has called and will be with us tomorrow to help in the village.  The friendships we have made here in Guatemala are priceless to us.  They have become such close friends that we look forward to seeing each of them when we come back each year.

After a good nights rest, we will all be ready and anxious to head to the village to meet the families we will be spending the next few days with.  As our plans have changed, we will have more time to get to know these families and we are really looking forward to that.

Please continue to pray for safety for the team, for a bond that will be made with the families in the village and that we will see the Spirit working in mighty ways throughout the next week.  Also, please continue to pray for health for the team.  We have a few that have some bad colds and we pray they do not develop in to anything more severe and the cold symptoms will be gone soon.

Donna

PS  It is now 9:45 and I think I am the only one awake.  Going to lock the doors, turn out the lights and go to bed. 


 

Dedication Day

Our trip culminated today with house dedications! The weather was perfect, spirits were high, and anxious passengers rode quietly to the village.  Everyone along the route knew that the gringos were coming with our caravan of three vans and a truck and the kids started the "gringos, gringos" chant as we arrived.  Eighteen homes donated by special people for special people was our quest for the day. 'Manuel's house', the two 'widow's homes', 'Rudy's', the 'Tommer house', and the 'avocado house' were just a few of the nicknames of the homes we dedicated.

The vast majority of the houses dedicated were believers and attended church in their local village.  Their testimonies and thankfulness touched our lives as much as a "new house" impacted their lives.  God was certainly present today!  Each house received an adult bible, children's bible, and audio bible to continue their walk with Jesus.  They also received a prayer shawl, blanket, household supplies, and food to equip their new houses.  The dedication ended with a small fire-works show to celebrate the day (no fingers were lost).

Countless times throughout this week we have felt and visibly experienced the power of your prayers going before us and with us, leaving us with amazing and memorable stories to share.  We have fully experienced the fellowship of believers, a gift that transcends language barriers.  Most of all we have been refueled by the love of a compassionate and gracious heavenly Father whose plans were far greater than we could have ever hoped for or imagined.  May He receive all of the praise & thanks for a successful week in GLORIOUSLY warm weather (it had to be said).

Thank you for your support, we are eager to see you soon!
(Jeff, Mike & Michelle on behalf of) "The Team"

Tuesday

This day on Tuesday, February 24th, we woke up to another beautiful Guatemalan sunshining morning. The smell of the crisp bacon and beautiful smiles of the hard working kitchen ladies was sure to start our day out right.  After breakfast we sang songs and had devotions. We then drew names of who we were to keep in our prayers and encourage for the day, made our lunch, and headed out into the village or to the market for the day.
We added the finishing touches to the houses before the dedication on Wednesday. Some of us were lying on the grass when we got bombarded with boys and girls looking for juguetes (toys.) We gave the kids standing there a lot of the toys we had when another group appeared asking for the same thing. And then another. Then another. Until we had "no mas" (no more).
Right after we finished playing with the kids and completing the houses we got back into our vans and headed to do the food distribution at a local church. This was where we were able to line up in a line and put food and other items into their bags as they walked by.  We were able to hug them and give them our blessings and they did as well in return.  What a blessing it was to serve them in this way.  Their smiles and appreciation was a blessing in return to us. It was really cool to see how different our lives are from theirs and how God can use the blessings we received to bless others. And even those who have so little can still bless those who have much in words of appreciation.  We were so grateful for this opportunity and give God all the glory.

Paulette and Alexis Sterk

Monday

Today we went to Love the Child, an orphanage that we have visited for many years. We loved on many children and shared lots of laughs. Their stories are sad, but that only makes us want to love them even more. We also helped split and stack some wood that was at the site where the new orphanage building will be. We also had a chance to talk to Steve Osborne about what has happened in the orphanage for the past year, and some of the exciting plans they have coming up. Later, he came and talked at the mission house about a prison ministry and what is happening there. We are always very excited to visit Love the Child, and the children are always quick to love us right back. -Paige and Laura

February 22, 2015

Started the day with our devotions - this is one of my favorite things about this trip because they really make me think about the real reason we are here. It is Sunday so that means it is our excursion day, which was going to Antigua for dinner, some shopping and site seeing. We made it to the city nicely and then found our parking spots, seemed easy for some reason, but did not seem as busy today. We paid for parking went to dinner and the afternoon activities, when done and it was time to meet at the city square everyone made it back and we headed to the vans, only to find that where we left three there was only one left, now at first we thought we were on the wrong street, only to find we were in their right spot, just not the same as we left it. After looking at the remaining van and finding a ticket in the window we started looking for where the vans were towed to. One hour later we were on the road headed back, The Lord really had his hand in helping everyone keep their cool and thinking this little obstacle out. I was very fortunate to go to dinner with everyone and then leave with Lazaro to attend his church and see couple of people that attend there. What a wonderful experience, the people just are so full of joy and praise, they sing as loud as they can, and Lazaro's daughter Marcia, and son Josh lead the singing so well. After the service I was invited to go to the families house and see what a home looks like behind those steel doors that are along the roads we travel. Behind those doors is a Home, where it may be on the small side, and everyone has to live close, you can tell that it also makes the family close - kind of makes you think for a moment. Once again the people of Guatemala are showing us how a willing smile and friendly wave can be so easy to do here in the midst of having so little, it just humbles you. Dellen

February 21, 2015

Today was another great day serving the Lord in Guatemala. Starting off the day we knew it would be another exciting day because we had been asked to participate in a local carnival. Before we headed to the carnival we split up into two groups, two vans going to the village to help build and one van of people staying back to help set up for the carnival. Once at the village, we split up into three groups, two building and one VBS group. While the building crews made progress, the VBS group had a lesson that involved reading a bible story and making bracelets for the kids to take home. While the kids were crafting away, the building crew finished another 3 houses and had another 3 started. Next, everyone headed to a school where the carnival was being held. When we arrived there, 2 blow-ups were just getting there and cotton candy was already being made. Just outside of the gates of the school, there were kids lined up waiting to get in with their families. Once the doors were finally opened, everyone came rushing in and enjoyed all of the games and candy that came along with them. The carnival ended with a good game of soccer between the "Gringos" (the white people, us), and the local kids, it was a lot of fun! Coming back to the house, we finished the night off with baked potatoes and some card games! Tomorrow we are excited for our day off exploring Guatemala! - The Powder Puff Girls