The Amazing Race

I posted 2 days at the same time… you gotta read Mono Loco if you haven’t.

Since we stayed in Antigua we were going to have an Amazing Race to see the city. We were in 4 different teams going around the city with a list of things to take photos with. It was so much fun. I have not ran like that in YEARS!  We saw all over the city.  Then we were able to go to the market for a little shopping. I am sure Preston & Bree will be excited to see what I bought them this year.  I found the cutest little dress there for myself.  Yurgan, one of our translators took my friend, Erin and I to a Jade factory on a tuc, tuc (a little taxi). Guatemala has green, purple and pink jade.  It was beautiful. I know what I want for Christmas next year. :)

  Me, Cristina & Chase on the tuc, tuc during the Amazing Race.

  Look to the far left… the volcano was releasing smoke.  Our hotel had a view of 3 volcanoes.

On our way back to Guatemala City, we stopped by the school at the dump.  This is a large community that works in the dump recycling through the trash and a school is being offered to the children of these workers to offer education and 2 meals a day. They have hopes that these children can do more for themselves.  I asked if poverty like this was all over Guatemala City and I was told that it is.

   Homes in the community near the dump. 

  The school at the dump. This is located near the dump but is called that.

Dinner was incredible.  I wore my cute new dress.  We ate at a nice steak house. The group shared what they were going to leave with this week because Paul always prays that God can use the group to do great things but to have even greater things happen in the hearts of the group.  When it was my turn to share, I of course was already crying… I shared that last year when I came to Guatemala I fell in love with the place and the people. This year I was inspired. I know God wants me to do more. I feel a burden on my heart for this country. I have been given much and I feel it is up to me to return it. I know that there are places all over the world in need but God has given me a heart for the people of Guatemala.

  Some wonderful people. 

Mono Loco

We took a group of ladies from Pacux to a chicken farm to learn about raising chickens to earn a living. To get to the farm, we had to ride in the back of pick up trucks. Oh my!  While we were at the chicken farm we were able to hear the story of how Salama came to be… very interesting!  The owner raises more than chickens we learned… he has ostriches, ducks, monkeys and more.  We looked at the ostriches first.  One ostrich was biting at my watch and at first I screamed but it didn’t hurt.  The ostrich did not like the way I jerked my hand back when he would go to bite so he grabbed my whole hand and bit down pretty hard. It actually left a little mark.  Then we saw quail, rabbits, then monkeys.  Oh, the monkeys!  The two adorable capuchin monkeys would hold your hand; how sweet. Then one began to grab at my shirt, shorts, backpack then finally my hair!  It grabbed my hair and didn’t let go for a little bit. He was trying to eat it. Of course I was screaming.  Later these two monkeys took the lock out of their gate and then opened their gate.  They escape all of the time according to the owner.  It was a lot of fun.

        

After we left the chicken farm, we headed off to Pacux.  We were going to have to tell the children goodbye.  I was so excited to go see them but was not looking forward to saying goodbye.  When we got there we organized the humanitarian aide items at the school. The children were in the classes at this time. I was able to see inside a first grade and seventh grade classroom. It was SO awesome!  The teacher in the first grade class told the interpreter that she has researched things for her class online and that people have come to watch her & even put her on YouTube.  I can’t wait to check that out when I get home.   The children left their classrooms and were able to go through the line and get items.  Some items were clothes, shoes, toys, candy and pictures of themselves that we printed for them & put in frames. They do not have any photos of themselves.  After all of the items were gone, we had to say our goodbyes.  The three days that I was able to spend with these children were amazing.  Noelle, Gladys, Cristina & Josua are forever in my heart. Noelle ran up to me and handed me a little basket.  Luckily one of the translators was near me. Noelle told me that she handmade the basket for me and that she wants me to remember her.  I started crying and hugged her. She hugged me so tight.  As I walked to the bus and told my sweeties goodbye, I cried and told them that I will be back and that I will miss them. The stood by my window and walked with the bus as it pulled away.  It was such an emotional goodbye.

      

After a 4 hour drive (I had plenty of time to cry out my thoughts and take a nap) we arrived in Antigua.  We checked in at the hotel and went to eat at the Mono Loco (which means crazy monkey—so funny since I met a crazy monkey that morning).  It was such a cool, fun place. We had naranjara con soda (orange juice & soda – mmmmm), nachos & quesadillas. It was so yummy. The nachos are advertised to be as big as your head.  They were so much bigger & loaded with lots of guacamole.  We were able to visit with the translators a lot and that was so interesting to discuss different cultures.

  Mono Loco 

The flood

I’m sorry I had to post several at one time…. I haven’t had time to update.  If you haven’t read ‘Rainbows’… please do.  :)

On Tuesday, I woke up to a flood in my bed.  The ceiling above me leaked and the whole left corner of my bed and one pillow was completely soaked.  Wow!!!  I woke up with the dry pillow but I was halfway down the bed. I must have been slowly moving but not fully waking up through the night.  It had rained the entire night.  We got ready and headed to the children’s home. We painted all day to finish up because the roads were too bad for us to travel to Pacux.  I was disappointed but this was for our safety.  While at the home, I had a chance to really bond with Estuardo. He is an 8 year old boy that lives there.  He is so funny and smart. I made him a little plane that I ordered from Oriental Trading Co. and he pointed to the end (the plastic piece) and looked at me & shrugged… he was asking why it was there.  Then he touched his temples several times and he then showed me without the plastic it would go straight down…he figured it out all on his own. He also figured out how another person did the cut off thumb trick.  We were amazed at how he could figure these things out in less than a minute.  We ate lunch at Pollo Campero… I had pizza and tres leches cake.  I have a new love!  If anyone can make tres leches… mmmm…. I would love you forever! Roberto a guy on our trip bought some fruit from the market and it is the funniest looking fruit I have ever seen.  I will add pictures later… I haven’t been able to upload anymore.  This fruit is called chinese cherry (common name).  It is like a grape once you peel the outer layer off.  Karla, my new sweet friend had gone too and bought me a candy bar. I got so excited about having sweets that I wanted to go buy a few more candy bars. Roberto was going to take some others to the market so my group went too.  We bought some more chinese cherries and I got several more candy bars.  They had snickers, Hershey’s and M&Ms.  Our translators, Yergan and Hector thought we were so funny.  After lunch, we went back to the home and finished up all painting. It was amazing to see the group work together to accomplish one goal, one very big goal.  The home looks beautiful and new and fresh.

Since the house was so strong with fumes the family came to dinner with us. Every time Estuardo sees me he grabs my hand and says ‘amigos’.  I had so much fun eating and laughing with Estuardo. He even told me that I was loco.  He sang songs and wanted me to keep recording him on my video camera.  Right before he left I was hugging on him and said ‘I could take him home with me’.  Then Paul started shaking his head & said no, no… don’t say that…. and he said he would tell me why later.  When later came, I learned that Estuardo has been an orphan all of his life. He used to live in an orphanage that is now shut down. While he was there adoption was still legal. He had a friend that has a burnt face and his friend was adopted.  Estuardo wants to know why no one wants him and says he has a good face.  He wants a family and a place to call home so bad. Edwin & Sandra at the children’s home can offer that to him but as soon as I heard that I began crying. I couldn’t stop crying for over an hour. I cried for Estuardo, then I was so overwhelmed with emotions I continued to cry.  It was a moment that I cannot describe. My heart literally hurt for the people here.

Rainbows

On Monday, we worked at the children’s home in the morning. I was able to go with Paul and 4 others to the paint store. It was small and only sold colors already in cans. They could not mix colors. The owner of the paint store offered to show us his house because he just painted it a color that we were debating over.  It was neat to see someone’s home from another country.  After we got the paint, the group began painting until lunch.  Around lunch time, we loaded the buses and went to Pacux.  On the way, we saw road crews cleaning up the landslides from the previous day.  On the way back to Salama, the mess from the landslide was completely cleaned up.

   We tried our best to keep the beautiful designs on the children’s home.  I was paining around the children’s handprints on the wall.

While in Pacux, we had so much fun with the children. We read them a story about Jonah with the help of a translator. We also played duck, duck, goose… (pato, pato, gonzo).  The children thought it would be funny for me to be the goose over and over again. I ran around the circle quite a few times.  It was so much fun to just be a kid again.  After vbs, a group of children took us down a cliff, over a hill, through some barb  wire and around some trees to a valley that words cannot describe the beauty.  The leader of the group, Ruben, who is 11, would hold up his hand for us to stop while he checked to see if the area was clear of the bull or not.  Then he would wave us on to keep going once it was clear.  A little girl named Gladys was attached to my side and would hold my hand and walk me where I needed to go.  She would put her hands on my hips if I were climbing to make sure I could make it. If she was in front of me, she would pull my hand to make sure I was going fast enough. She was taking care of me.  It was amazing.  These children love to love and love to receive love.  Marlon just sat with me and Gladys in the valley and leaned against me with his arm around my legs. They just love the affection and have so much of it to give.

  Pato, pato, gonzo!    Painting Gladys’ nails.

  One view from the valley… the home is a traditional Mayan home.

When we left Pacux we saw a rainbow through the mountains. As we continued winding around the road we could see the beginning of the rainbow… it was breathtaking.  As we kept driving we could see more and more of the rainbow. We finally could see the whole rainbow beginning to end.  We were all trying to take pictures to capture this moment but I do not think a picture will be able to share what we saw.  I was so excited that another member of our team said I sounded like the guy on youtube that saw the double rainbow.  If you have seen this video you are probably laughing at me right now. No worries. It was that awesome!  Plus, as clumsy, uncoordinated and silly as I am, I have been laughed at quite a bit this trip.  It has been fun though.

  Part of the rainbow. It was so big, I couldn’t get it in one picture.

After dinner, we always share what God has shown us though the day.  I began to cry and cry when the realization came that we only had one more day to visit with the children in Pacux. I fell in love with these children last year and I waited a whole year to get back to them and it was already time to go again.  Believe me I miss Jeremy and my babies so much…. it is that these people are special to me and have a place in my heart.  I hate that it will be another before I can see them.

Josua    Gladys    Juansi  blowing bubbles

How God Moves

This morning we attended the church service at Salama First Baptist. On the way to the church we stopped by the children’s home to pick up the 4 children and the adults.  Two of the children sat with me. One was an 8 year old boy and a 4 year old girl.  The boy, Estuardo, was doing his best to communicate with me. He was showing me his Bible and then I showed him mine.  He flipped through it and said ‘Wow’ because it was big and pink.  He then said ‘cantar?”  Since I did not know what he was saying, he sang ‘holy, holy, holy’.  He was telling me that he was going to sing at church.  It was amazing to know that the different cultures, languages & location did not change the fact that we were all worshiping the same God.  Listening to the pastor and others sing songs of praise in Spanish was not a barrier to feel how God was moving.  His presence was there and it was an experience like no other. During the service birds were flying through the building and a skinny, mangy dog ran through the building but none of these things interfered with their worship.  The pastor was so appreciative of our group coming to work at the children’s home and in the village of Pacux.  Gratitude was flowing out of him.

After church, we headed out to Pacux. The drive is a little over an hour.  I saw a lot of damage from the landslide that was much worse than yesterday.  Our bus had to drive all over the road at times because of the giant rocks in the road. There were a few spots that part of the road was gone.  We thought we were not going to be able to make it because the road was almost fully covered from a landslide. There was just enough room for our bus to make it through.

In Pacux, we saw the wonderful children. It was so exciting to see some of the same faces from last year. A few of them remembered me & gave me some of the biggest hugs ever. We took about over 100 kiddos to the park and made a craft that represented the verse John 3:16.  We want them to know that God loves them.   Once it began to rain on us, we had to rush to the busses to get on the road. The rain causes the landslides. We had to get through the mountains before it got worse. Luckily it only rained for about 30 minutes.

Thank you for your  prayers and your emails & texts. I cannot tell you how much it means to me.

   Salama First Baptist

  The landslide almost covered the whole road.

  Millie & Estuardo on our way to church.

We made it!

Today we traveled for close to 4 hours to reach Salama. We saw some damage to the roads from landslides. It made for an interesting ride.   At one point we almost ran over a man on a motorcycle, smashed by a diesel & driving on the wrong side of the road for long periods at a time.  This afternoon and evening we were able to attend and serve a Pastor’s reception. The pastors came in from areas all around Salama & do not have opportunities like this often.  Paul, one of our pastors at C Life gave a sermon (with a translators help) and we sang songs and listened to other pastors speak (in Spanish and some in Chi (a mayan language). I was completely lost.  I recognized a word or two every once in a while.   It was amazing though. I could feel God’s presence in the building.  It was absolutely amazing.  After the message, we served the pastors dinner.  The pastors and their wives were so thankful. To show their appreciation for what we are doing here in Guatemala, they brought out an American Flag and the main pastor sang us a song in English as well as prayed for us.

The Big Day

Well tomorrow is the big day. I am super excited to see what all God has in store for me on this trip. Last year God showed me that everyone’s story is important and that He will use mine in some way.  I will do my very best to post something each evening. I hope you are able to follow along this wonderful journey with me.  Please pray for me, my family at home, the group and the people that we come in contact with.  Next Wednesday, I will be leading a group of children in making a bracelet that teaches the children the gospel.  Of course, I will have a translator since no hablo espanol!  I will return home next Friday.  I will post pictures as soon as I can. 

Why in the world would I blog???

As I prepare for my trip to Guatemala, I wanted to find a way to share the amazing things God plans to show me during my time there. How can I share these things with my family and friends? Then it hit me... a blog. Why couldn't I have a blog? First, I thought, how silly. No one would even read what I have to say but then I thought hmmm.... at least I know Preston and Bree would love it!

I will be in Guatemala from July 30 - August 6th along with a team from C Life Church. We are planning to work with a children's home in Salama and a small village in Pacux. While in Pacux, we are planning to have a VBS for the many children there. This will be my second time to go to Guatemala and I am so excited. I promised two special children that I would be back to see them.