Well, here it is. After a week of growing in our faith and ministering to our brothers and sisters in Christ here, it is our last full day in Guatemala. Because we had plans at night, we debriefed with Kevin and Ginny after breakfast in the morning instead. Over the course of two hours, we all shared our answers to four questions: "What surprised you this week?", "What frustrated you this week?", "What did you learn about yourself this week?", and "Where did you see God this week?". Our responses all alluded to the fact that we really worked together for God's will and grew as a team this week, and even a few tears were shed. It was evident that God's hand was all up in everything throughout our journey this week.
Leftover lunch ensued with the Guatemalan missionaries, and afterwards we prepared for hosting our last faith lessons in the mission house.
The lesson for the smaller children went very well, and the kids were very enthusiastic in their responses. Because there were not as many children as on the other days, we all got to interact with them quite a bit.
This group of young adults was by far the most interactive and ready to share their experiences of christians encouraging each other. After the lesson we talked about our studies and interests and played a very animated game of Uno (or One), until the children had to leave.
We had a very hard goodbye with the Guatemalan missionaries before dinner (all save Cesar, who is sleeping over tonight!), and then had our last supper of pizza and pop on the roof in the impending Guatemalan dusk.
At 7 we left for a youth worship service at Manuel's church, Sendero de la Cruz. We started by singing praise songs in Spanish accompanied by a pair of trumpet players, a keyboardist, a percussion player, and two singers, and complete with some teens going to the front and dancing, shouting, rejoicing, and otherwise worshiping Jesus in a very visible, expressive way. The preacher got up and talked about the book of Romans and the love of Christ in English, and then translated it to Spanish for the rest of the audience. Everyone was so genuinely happy to have us there, and have us as a Christian presence in their country, and we were greeted by many kind words and large smiles, despite just meeting them. It was incredibly inspiring to see so many young people, especially young men, spending their Friday night at church. It gave me hope that the next generation of Guatemalans will be full of strong Christian men leading their families in a Godly manner.
The service lasted two hours, but felt like about 20 minutes, yet we returned to the house to find our pal Cesar waiting to watch a movie with us, and end our mission trip with one last team bonding experience. Tomorrow we leave the house at 11:30 to get on a flight to Miami, then back to Chicago by midnight. It is hard to think of leaving when there is still so much work to be done with the people of Guatemala, yet we know that God's work will continue to be done through the other missionaries with Groundwork Guatemala. And as we return to America, we will carry all that we learned and experienced this week, and continue to spread His love and care throughout all of His creation. Thank you all for your support and prayers over this week. Dios le bendiga! (God bless you!)
Rhonda & Mars
Friday, May 25, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Growth in Gonzalez Park
¡Buenas noches!
We (David and Jamie) are writing from the oficina (office) of the mission house after a great day out and about in the city of Amatitlán. After a great devotion from Oscar, we made the forty-five minute drive in our two silver vans and one silver camión (truck) to Gonzalez Park, which is located in the city. We got off to kind of a rough start, though, because Mars took a tumble! She tripped on a ledge and fell face-first onto the pavement, leaving her with a large gash on her chin that ended up needing a couple staples. She got to see another side of Guatemala - its healthcare "system"! Here's her story:
After attempting to leave on house visits with one of the other groups, Ana called me back because she and Ruth decided that I needed to go get stitches for my chin. So Julián drove Kevin, Ana, and me through the streets of Amatitlán to find a clínica (clinic) where I could get patched up. The first place we tried wasn't open, so we continued looking until we arrived at a small green building. From what I could see, the clinic consisted mainly of two small rooms: the doctor's office, and a reception area with a desk and about ten plastic chairs lining the walls. After waiting for about twenty minutes, we were let in to see the doctor, and I practiced speaking Spanish to him while he practiced speaking English to me. After injecting an anesthetic into the area around my cut, the doctor took a soapy brush (think of a brush you would use for cleaning dishes), and scrubbed my chin over a sink. Needless to say, I was glad that I couldn't feel anything. After closing the cut with two staples, he covered it with gauze and prescribed an antibiotic and a mild painkiller. The bill for the service was only 150 quetzales (the equivalent of $20), which was astounding when compared to the incredible cost of healthcare services in America. It was overall a very interesting experience to have, and I ended up with a unique souvenir!
We then split up into four groups, each with a Guatemalan or two, in order to go on house visits. We split into more groups than normal because this was our last day to go and minister to people outside of the mission house.
Jamie went with Ruth and Ody, along with Kyle and Rhonda. Ody took us to visit two of the mission's scholarship children and their families. The first child was Daniel, who has cerebral palsy. He cannot walk or talk, but he absolutely loves music! They turned on the radio for him during our visit and his face positively lit up. His mother takes care of him, his twin sister, and her other daughter mostly on her own, and it's a struggle. It was simply incredible to see the love and care that is present in that family. It reminded us of the self-sacrificing love that Christ has for us, and it was great to be able to share that with his mother through words, hugs, and Bible verses. Later, we also discovered that Daniel is one of the children that Deaconess Betsy sponsors! She was able to see him for the second time and share her love and support in person. The second house visit brought us to Aura and her family. Aura is deaf in both ears, so she cannot hear or talk. However, she is incredibly intelligent and can understand reading, writing, and some sign language. She showed us her notebook and it was full of division problems that she had already completed, and completed correctly! It is always amazing to see the gifts God gives to His children, and the ways in which He continues to use what many of us would consider weaknesses for His good.
David went with both Brians (Muldowney and McPherson), Paige, Manuel, and Chochi, and they got to see the whole spectrum of life in a very encouraging way during their house visits. At the first house visit, a 91-year old walked out from the back room with minimal assistance. It was really cool to be able to talk with him, even if we could not understand everything. He had fifty grandchildren, seventy great grandchildren, and ten great, great grandchildren! His faith was strong, and he seemed to have a very loving family. At the second house visit, we were greeted by the wonderful sight of a healthy twenty-day-old baby boy. The family also had a young boy and girl. The greatest and most encouraging sight for us, however, was the loving, Christian father by their side, which is, sadly, a pretty rare sight in Guatemala. It was so fantastic for us to see him eagerly pick up his Bible, and we encouraged him to continue to be such a great role model and Christian influence for his young children, and for the other men in the community.
Upon returning to Gonzalez Park, which is actually more of a paved square in the town center, Manuel gathered all the team members together to pray around a young woman and her mother. We didn't know what was wrong, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that we were able to provide prayer and physical support for our sisters in Christ in their time of need. We then set up shop with numerous tents to provide shade. We also had to sweep the area clean because, unfortunately, a local horse beat us to the square in the morning and left a couple presents, if you know what we mean. We had a great time joking around and goofing off with the Guatemalan missionaries during lunch and then got down to business. We had a lot of adults (including a man who came to Christ during CUC's last trip with Groundwork Guatemala in August!) and close to 200 children. Although we weren't able to have the young adult Bible study session that we've been doing at the sites, we were able to spread out and connect with a lot of the younger children while helping with the craft, or manualidades. Each child received a plastic baggie with supplies to make two pescaditos (little fish). One fish is for them to keep, but the other is for them to share with someone to encourage them and spread our Christian love. After making the manualidades, our team kept playing and connecting with all the kids through things like jump ropes and English lessons. It was a really awesome sight to see.
We packed everything back into the trusty vans later that afternoon, leaving a little time for a special surprise visit to Lake Amatitlán! We took a few group pictures and just had fun as a team, with both the Americans and Guatemalan missionaries (and Kevin, of course). We love the fact that it's like a big family here, no matter where a person may live. Our theme for the week is encouragement and we use the Bible story from Acts 11:19-26 about Barnabus encouraging the early Christians in conjunction with Hebrews 3:13, the memory verse, to illustrate that idea to the Guatemalan people. God has blessed us with a team of people that truly embodies that Christian encouragement, so it has been really incredible to watch that in action and be able to demonstrate it to the Guatemalans and to each other.
We hope that everyone reading this is also encouraged by the amazing stories that have been shared through this blog, and thanks again for keeping our team in your prayers!
Dios le bendiga (God bless),
David and Jamie
We (David and Jamie) are writing from the oficina (office) of the mission house after a great day out and about in the city of Amatitlán. After a great devotion from Oscar, we made the forty-five minute drive in our two silver vans and one silver camión (truck) to Gonzalez Park, which is located in the city. We got off to kind of a rough start, though, because Mars took a tumble! She tripped on a ledge and fell face-first onto the pavement, leaving her with a large gash on her chin that ended up needing a couple staples. She got to see another side of Guatemala - its healthcare "system"! Here's her story:
After attempting to leave on house visits with one of the other groups, Ana called me back because she and Ruth decided that I needed to go get stitches for my chin. So Julián drove Kevin, Ana, and me through the streets of Amatitlán to find a clínica (clinic) where I could get patched up. The first place we tried wasn't open, so we continued looking until we arrived at a small green building. From what I could see, the clinic consisted mainly of two small rooms: the doctor's office, and a reception area with a desk and about ten plastic chairs lining the walls. After waiting for about twenty minutes, we were let in to see the doctor, and I practiced speaking Spanish to him while he practiced speaking English to me. After injecting an anesthetic into the area around my cut, the doctor took a soapy brush (think of a brush you would use for cleaning dishes), and scrubbed my chin over a sink. Needless to say, I was glad that I couldn't feel anything. After closing the cut with two staples, he covered it with gauze and prescribed an antibiotic and a mild painkiller. The bill for the service was only 150 quetzales (the equivalent of $20), which was astounding when compared to the incredible cost of healthcare services in America. It was overall a very interesting experience to have, and I ended up with a unique souvenir!
We then split up into four groups, each with a Guatemalan or two, in order to go on house visits. We split into more groups than normal because this was our last day to go and minister to people outside of the mission house.
Jamie went with Ruth and Ody, along with Kyle and Rhonda. Ody took us to visit two of the mission's scholarship children and their families. The first child was Daniel, who has cerebral palsy. He cannot walk or talk, but he absolutely loves music! They turned on the radio for him during our visit and his face positively lit up. His mother takes care of him, his twin sister, and her other daughter mostly on her own, and it's a struggle. It was simply incredible to see the love and care that is present in that family. It reminded us of the self-sacrificing love that Christ has for us, and it was great to be able to share that with his mother through words, hugs, and Bible verses. Later, we also discovered that Daniel is one of the children that Deaconess Betsy sponsors! She was able to see him for the second time and share her love and support in person. The second house visit brought us to Aura and her family. Aura is deaf in both ears, so she cannot hear or talk. However, she is incredibly intelligent and can understand reading, writing, and some sign language. She showed us her notebook and it was full of division problems that she had already completed, and completed correctly! It is always amazing to see the gifts God gives to His children, and the ways in which He continues to use what many of us would consider weaknesses for His good.
David went with both Brians (Muldowney and McPherson), Paige, Manuel, and Chochi, and they got to see the whole spectrum of life in a very encouraging way during their house visits. At the first house visit, a 91-year old walked out from the back room with minimal assistance. It was really cool to be able to talk with him, even if we could not understand everything. He had fifty grandchildren, seventy great grandchildren, and ten great, great grandchildren! His faith was strong, and he seemed to have a very loving family. At the second house visit, we were greeted by the wonderful sight of a healthy twenty-day-old baby boy. The family also had a young boy and girl. The greatest and most encouraging sight for us, however, was the loving, Christian father by their side, which is, sadly, a pretty rare sight in Guatemala. It was so fantastic for us to see him eagerly pick up his Bible, and we encouraged him to continue to be such a great role model and Christian influence for his young children, and for the other men in the community.
Upon returning to Gonzalez Park, which is actually more of a paved square in the town center, Manuel gathered all the team members together to pray around a young woman and her mother. We didn't know what was wrong, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that we were able to provide prayer and physical support for our sisters in Christ in their time of need. We then set up shop with numerous tents to provide shade. We also had to sweep the area clean because, unfortunately, a local horse beat us to the square in the morning and left a couple presents, if you know what we mean. We had a great time joking around and goofing off with the Guatemalan missionaries during lunch and then got down to business. We had a lot of adults (including a man who came to Christ during CUC's last trip with Groundwork Guatemala in August!) and close to 200 children. Although we weren't able to have the young adult Bible study session that we've been doing at the sites, we were able to spread out and connect with a lot of the younger children while helping with the craft, or manualidades. Each child received a plastic baggie with supplies to make two pescaditos (little fish). One fish is for them to keep, but the other is for them to share with someone to encourage them and spread our Christian love. After making the manualidades, our team kept playing and connecting with all the kids through things like jump ropes and English lessons. It was a really awesome sight to see.
We packed everything back into the trusty vans later that afternoon, leaving a little time for a special surprise visit to Lake Amatitlán! We took a few group pictures and just had fun as a team, with both the Americans and Guatemalan missionaries (and Kevin, of course). We love the fact that it's like a big family here, no matter where a person may live. Our theme for the week is encouragement and we use the Bible story from Acts 11:19-26 about Barnabus encouraging the early Christians in conjunction with Hebrews 3:13, the memory verse, to illustrate that idea to the Guatemalan people. God has blessed us with a team of people that truly embodies that Christian encouragement, so it has been really incredible to watch that in action and be able to demonstrate it to the Guatemalans and to each other.
We hope that everyone reading this is also encouraged by the amazing stories that have been shared through this blog, and thanks again for keeping our team in your prayers!
Dios le bendiga (God bless),
David and Jamie
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
A buena vista into our day!
Everyone at the Groundwork Guatemala house this morning was awoken by Deaconess Betsy. She awoke the guys in an interesting manner; by using lines from a movie "Good Morning Guatemala!!"(Vietnam)
Next we departed for our 2 hour drive to Buena Vista and picked up Chochi. We also had a perfect view of the three major volcanoes; Fuego, Acatenango, and Agua of which is dormant. Kevin warned us that the weather would be quite different and he was right...it was hot and humid. Main street was a rocky dirt road that began with the "home" tree that was remnicent from the movie, "Avatar." The first child and really first person to greet the team was Minor who was one of the five deaf children in the village. Upon arrival, Minor opened the front door of which "McBrian" was sitting and gave him a welcoming, embracing hug.
The team then set up the medical tent, tables, and necessary equipment for the day and prepared to sing with adults and children. This event was very moving for most to see everyone so interactive with the songs and memory verse. We split up into three groups during our house visits: Julian, Oscar, and Cesar were the group leaders. All groups had similar experiences with the Guatemalan people of Buena Vista. In the group Cesar was leading we were discouraged to find empty houses for our first four attempts, but the last house we were able to talk to the woman who was at home. One of the womens children had died of a fever a year ago of a fever. One of the members of our group shared a personal intimate detail of their life relating to the womens sadness. She was very receptive to what Cesar had to say. She had met groundwork people before but it had been a long time since she had any visitors. Cesar apparently knew her relative who lived down the stream. As we all continued our way back to the fellowship area, we encountered rubber trees on our visit which was interesting since some of us never realized that rubber was made from the sap from the trees.
In the group Julian was leading (now featuring Mars!), we were again shown how gentle and caring he is with his fellow Guatemalans. At the first house we visited the woman who lived there was not present, and it was apparent that Julian was very disappointed that we were unable to minister to her. However, when we did manage to connect with someone, it was a very touching experience. Her mother, Maria, was suffering from liver problems and asked us to pray for her. We also encouraged her to bring her family to the Bible studies that Groundwork hosts every Wednesday. At the end of our visit, Minor (who was following along with our group) instructed us to all put our arms around each other for our prayer without having to speak. It was awesome to see how much joy and happiness he has even though he has never been able to communicate through intelligable language. Next, we visited Doña Josepha, who invited us into her house to pray over her, asking God to provide for her and her family, and thanking Him for all the blessings that He has provided for her. One of the biggest culture shocks in Guatemala comes during prayer, when everyone prays out loud at the same time, often extremely emotionally and always extremely genuinely. Josepha was a great example of this, as she poured out her heart to the Lord in thanks and supplication.
In my group lead my Oscar (Hello world this is Paige!!) we visited three different houses today. In my group was Brain Muldowney, Alyssa Mayfield, Emily August, and Saul who is a young man from the village. Brain did a great job at helping us translate everything. The first house had three older women and about five little children. The women who we primarly talked to had just lost a loved one and was very upset by it. We were able to read scripture to her about how Christ is always here for you even in hard and hopeless times. We also told her that she should hold on to the hope of being reunited with her loved one some day in heaven. The second house visit we made was to a group of women. There were four women total, and I would say about ten very young children between the four women. This visit was most likely one of my favorite house visits so far, because it was so different from the previous ones. Two women stated that they believed in God, while the other two women told us they did not. To the two women who said they believed, we said that they should continue encouraging one another since we are all family in Christ (Hebrews 3:13).
After that we prayed for them, for their children's health, and for encouragement to one another in the name of Christ. Then Oscar took us to the end of the village to an abandoned railroad track that was a bridge over a river. There we played in the water and learned that this is where the villagers would come and get water to drink and wash clothes. After that we headed back to eat lunch, but on the way we had one more home visit. A women invited us into her yard. We talked to her for a little bit, and she said that she was having trouble with family, and a few other things. She said that she needed prayers for strength and peace. At that home visit I actually got to pray for the women and her family! The group was awesome and did a great job at helping one another translate and encourage each other when we were feeling discouraged.
(Back to Brian & Phil here!) Finally a much needed lunch break came, but it was difficult to eat in front of the children. Then it was back to singing songs, faith lessons, and craft activities with the children, which is always a blast to witness the passion of everyone involved.
After playing a game of tag with the children, we were off on our way back to the Groundwork Guatemala house. We wrapped up the day with dinner, Ginny's "market", and a relaxing devotion filled with laughter.
Dear God please bless this group with the abilities and skills to reach out and teach others of your great goodness. Amen.
Next we departed for our 2 hour drive to Buena Vista and picked up Chochi. We also had a perfect view of the three major volcanoes; Fuego, Acatenango, and Agua of which is dormant. Kevin warned us that the weather would be quite different and he was right...it was hot and humid. Main street was a rocky dirt road that began with the "home" tree that was remnicent from the movie, "Avatar." The first child and really first person to greet the team was Minor who was one of the five deaf children in the village. Upon arrival, Minor opened the front door of which "McBrian" was sitting and gave him a welcoming, embracing hug.
The team then set up the medical tent, tables, and necessary equipment for the day and prepared to sing with adults and children. This event was very moving for most to see everyone so interactive with the songs and memory verse. We split up into three groups during our house visits: Julian, Oscar, and Cesar were the group leaders. All groups had similar experiences with the Guatemalan people of Buena Vista. In the group Cesar was leading we were discouraged to find empty houses for our first four attempts, but the last house we were able to talk to the woman who was at home. One of the womens children had died of a fever a year ago of a fever. One of the members of our group shared a personal intimate detail of their life relating to the womens sadness. She was very receptive to what Cesar had to say. She had met groundwork people before but it had been a long time since she had any visitors. Cesar apparently knew her relative who lived down the stream. As we all continued our way back to the fellowship area, we encountered rubber trees on our visit which was interesting since some of us never realized that rubber was made from the sap from the trees.
In the group Julian was leading (now featuring Mars!), we were again shown how gentle and caring he is with his fellow Guatemalans. At the first house we visited the woman who lived there was not present, and it was apparent that Julian was very disappointed that we were unable to minister to her. However, when we did manage to connect with someone, it was a very touching experience. Her mother, Maria, was suffering from liver problems and asked us to pray for her. We also encouraged her to bring her family to the Bible studies that Groundwork hosts every Wednesday. At the end of our visit, Minor (who was following along with our group) instructed us to all put our arms around each other for our prayer without having to speak. It was awesome to see how much joy and happiness he has even though he has never been able to communicate through intelligable language. Next, we visited Doña Josepha, who invited us into her house to pray over her, asking God to provide for her and her family, and thanking Him for all the blessings that He has provided for her. One of the biggest culture shocks in Guatemala comes during prayer, when everyone prays out loud at the same time, often extremely emotionally and always extremely genuinely. Josepha was a great example of this, as she poured out her heart to the Lord in thanks and supplication.
In my group lead my Oscar (Hello world this is Paige!!) we visited three different houses today. In my group was Brain Muldowney, Alyssa Mayfield, Emily August, and Saul who is a young man from the village. Brain did a great job at helping us translate everything. The first house had three older women and about five little children. The women who we primarly talked to had just lost a loved one and was very upset by it. We were able to read scripture to her about how Christ is always here for you even in hard and hopeless times. We also told her that she should hold on to the hope of being reunited with her loved one some day in heaven. The second house visit we made was to a group of women. There were four women total, and I would say about ten very young children between the four women. This visit was most likely one of my favorite house visits so far, because it was so different from the previous ones. Two women stated that they believed in God, while the other two women told us they did not. To the two women who said they believed, we said that they should continue encouraging one another since we are all family in Christ (Hebrews 3:13).
After that we prayed for them, for their children's health, and for encouragement to one another in the name of Christ. Then Oscar took us to the end of the village to an abandoned railroad track that was a bridge over a river. There we played in the water and learned that this is where the villagers would come and get water to drink and wash clothes. After that we headed back to eat lunch, but on the way we had one more home visit. A women invited us into her yard. We talked to her for a little bit, and she said that she was having trouble with family, and a few other things. She said that she needed prayers for strength and peace. At that home visit I actually got to pray for the women and her family! The group was awesome and did a great job at helping one another translate and encourage each other when we were feeling discouraged.
(Back to Brian & Phil here!) Finally a much needed lunch break came, but it was difficult to eat in front of the children. Then it was back to singing songs, faith lessons, and craft activities with the children, which is always a blast to witness the passion of everyone involved.
After playing a game of tag with the children, we were off on our way back to the Groundwork Guatemala house. We wrapped up the day with dinner, Ginny's "market", and a relaxing devotion filled with laughter.
Dear God please bless this group with the abilities and skills to reach out and teach others of your great goodness. Amen.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Our Day in El Rincon
Hola amigos!!!! Hope all is well back in the states!! Tonight you will be hearing from Señor Josh Groteluesehen and Señorita Paige Fitzsimons.
Today was a very eventful day for our team. It was the first time that we actually "saw the volcano. It was huge" (From Señor J). It was the first day that we got to get our hands wet, for real and do what we have been preparing for as a team this past school year. We started our day off with a hearty meal of eggs, cheese, and sour dough sandwiches made by our hostess Ginny. After that we jaunted up the stairs to hear our devotion from Manuel. He is a Guatemalan missionary who leads the Guatemalan missionary team. Manuel did a devotion on using the talents God has gifted us with. It was motivating for us to hear both in ingles and español. It prepared us for not only today, but for the rest of the week and what is in store for us.
After the devotion we piled, literally piled up, in the vans to travel to El Rincon. It was about a forty five minute drive, so we got to see a lot more of the city, and even the outskirts of Guatemala City today. It was another eye opening experience for us seeing a new culture. In a way for you all to understand back home... it was roller coster on the road...for realz...
Once arriving in El Rincon we went to go meet a family. The family lives fairly close to the volcano Pacaya. The volcano had just literally blown its top off about two years ago and still smolders today. While being there we meet Margarita and Carlos. Their house had their own well which the strong men on this trip pulled up a bucket for us to dip our hands in to surprisingly find hot water. It was hot because it was boiling from the volcano. As a team we entered the house. It consisted of two rooms, made of metal sheets, and several beds in the back room. There we meet Carlos. Carlos came to faith about eight years ago, and he also lost his leg about the same time. Today Carlos is bed bound because of his legs and he has several bed sores. Through all this though he stays strong in his faith (fuerte en su fe), and what the Lord has planned for his life. Carlos gave us lots of encouragement for our school work and what the Lord has planned for us as well. He read to us Proverbs 5. Take a look if you get a chance. It's worth reading. Once we left the house we found out that it was where the baño for the day was going to be...
We returned to the community center where we stored our belongings, and split into three groups to go do more house visits. I (Paige) will tell you about my experiences at the houses I went to today. My group consisted of David Moldenhauer, Brain Muldowney, Lauren Busch, Mars Reck, and me of course along with two other Guatemalan missionaries. We visited a house that was off the same road as the one on which we entered the village. The women lived with her family and her daughter. It was great experience, and also eye opening to how the culture works. The women became very emotional and as a group we encouraged her to stay strong in her faith and have hope for the future. We had the chacne to pray over her and give her a hug. As a group we learned that hugging an emotional woman is good if it is women hugging each other, but if a man hugs it is not as good and even frowned upon. David still stepped up though and gave her the hug that the poor women desperately needed. (He did this before we really knew about the whole culture thing...) After we finished at that house visit, we went down the road a litter further to another house. Her name was Carmen and she was having hard time understanding that it does not matter where you worship Jesus, or how big the congregation was or how beautiful the church was. We told her what mattered was that Christ was in her heart, and that she stays strong in Him no matter what. Later in the day while we were having our "worship service," Carmen came up and taught eveyone a song, and sang for us. It has been great to see another culture and how Christ is still so present, even though the culture is so different from ours. People are not afraid to show how much they love God, and how emotional they are about praising Him. I have found it interesting that while one person is praying eveyone else is saying their own prayers to themselves. Women who are old are still worshiping God by raisng their arms, coming up front and just being in awe of Christ. It has been a great experience so far for me.
Hey you guys, its my (Josh's) turn to type now. So after we split up I went with Deaconess Betsy, Kyle Salesky, Hannah Maske and Michelle Rodriguez. Oscar was our leader and translator. We went to visit Marco. He was an older man, had a bigger family with lots of kids and was very nice. When we first saw him he was wearing a cowboy hat, but then it disappeared somewhere (I don't know where). We met in a narrow alleyway next to the house. I was shocked we could fit so many people in a small alleyway. He was very strong in his faith, and his only concern was that he might not be able to encourage his family to remain strong in their faith. He also was not a church attender so we encouraged him that he should join a church since he already is part of God's family. The best way to describe him is to quote him. He said that he must trust God first, doctors second. It was remarkable how strong this man's faith was. I could not understand a word he said because I learned all this through translators, and yet his love for God was apparent even before I heard the words. The way he said the words showed his love. It truly amazes me how people with so little are the ones who appreciate God's blessings so much. They only have words of praise and joy for God, not anger or frustration. Yet here in America I struggle so much not to get angry with God even though I have so many blessings. These people have taught me far more than I have taught them. I hope that the lessons I have learned here last when I get back to the States because I want to live my life in thanksgiving, the way that these people do every day.
After we were done with the house visits, we reunited in the community center. There we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with chips and cookies. After we finished eating, we had a 20 person long shoulder massage train. It was incredible.
Then came the people, and there was a lot of them. (Do not fear, reader, Paige is back in control of the keyboard!) Unfortunately, however, there was no father figure in the crowd. This has been something evident to not only Josh and I, but to our whole team. We have learned that this is a big portion of the life style here in Guatemala: 65 % of men leave their families. This has made life difficult for the children and the mother. This is a trend we have noticed a little bit back home, and it makes us want to find or make sure to have a strong, male Christian influence in our lives.
When everyone showed up we started with music! This included the band that you read earlier! Lauren on the ukelele, and me on the guitar. Thankfully, we had Jamie and Brian, because they had the courage to sing with microphones in front of everyone! We are thankful for it because otherwise it would have been Josh...(do not tell him I typed this.) For those who love music dip your musical skills into a few of the following songs that we sang today (pero en español... but in Spanish!):
Peace Like a River (Paz como un rio)
This is the Day (Este es el dia)
Lets us give Thanks to God (Demos gracias al Señor)
Josh is back! I don't have much time, but I just wanted to say that they sounded great!!!
Paige is back... After we did our music we split up into groups of children from three to ten year olds. The group that Josh and I were part of was the older children from eleven to eighteen. Kevin has told us that today was the first day that they had split the chldren up like that and that it worked out really well. Kevin also informed us that in this age group, the girls would start to have babies, so it was super important to get a message across to them, and to encourage them to stay strong in faith to God and one another. The Bible study was on encouraging one another. We have learned that the Spanish phrase for encouraging each other is "Nos animamos." The memory verse is Hebrews 3:13 for those who would like to look it over and memorize it. After we finished we regrouped and had a chance to play with the littler children. They were super great. They were finishing up their lunch and started to have a tickle fight with us Americans. It was great to see them having so much fun, and wanting us to interact with them as well. At one point they cornered Lauren and all you could see were her shoes! David liked to play peekaboo through the broken window with the children. I decided to play "hair monster" with the children...do I need to explain anymore? On the trip back, a few things happened that Josh and I feel like you would enjoy hearing about: Uno, the vanful of people have decided that David is a two year old...yep, we said it. He can not be one, though, because he can speak. Dos, Jamie has a spitting problem...she spit/spewed her water all over David due to the fact that the Deaconess was attempting to speak with an accent. Tres, there is a whole lot of pollution in this country...
We arrived back at the mission house around dinner time and had a dinner that was prepared by Ginny. It was a nice home made meal! After that we prapared for tomorrow and had devotions led by my co writer Josh! He did great! The team is awesome and the theme of encougarement is truly shown in everyone on the team. Tomorrow we will be leaving the house around 7:00, so we are going to be up early visiting Bueña Vista, which is about a two hour drive, and we will be doing the same type of things that we did today!
Here is an original prayer from Josh and I:
Dear Father God,
Thank you so much for today. Thank you for the people we meet and the lives that have touched us in so many different ways. Thank you that we have had the opportunity to touch thier lives as well in whatever way that we can. Thank you for the examples here of servanthood. Lord, we pray for Carlos and that everything will heal quickly and relieve him in his time of pain. Lord, be with those children and families that we met and protect them, strengthen them, and keep them in good health. Thank you for Ginny and Kevin, and the Guatemalan missionaries who have been a blessing to us and the people here. Be with us tomorrow and we pray that we will have safe travels, and a good time. Thank you for this group of people that Josh and I have been able to work with. They have been a blessing to us in so many different ways. Continue to be with us and keep us safe in whatever we do! Thank you most of all for sending your son to come and die for us and that He took on the suffering and pain that we can only imagine. Thank you, Father, for so much. Amen.
Yours Truly,
Josh and Paige
Today was a very eventful day for our team. It was the first time that we actually "saw the volcano. It was huge" (From Señor J). It was the first day that we got to get our hands wet, for real and do what we have been preparing for as a team this past school year. We started our day off with a hearty meal of eggs, cheese, and sour dough sandwiches made by our hostess Ginny. After that we jaunted up the stairs to hear our devotion from Manuel. He is a Guatemalan missionary who leads the Guatemalan missionary team. Manuel did a devotion on using the talents God has gifted us with. It was motivating for us to hear both in ingles and español. It prepared us for not only today, but for the rest of the week and what is in store for us.
After the devotion we piled, literally piled up, in the vans to travel to El Rincon. It was about a forty five minute drive, so we got to see a lot more of the city, and even the outskirts of Guatemala City today. It was another eye opening experience for us seeing a new culture. In a way for you all to understand back home... it was roller coster on the road...for realz...
Once arriving in El Rincon we went to go meet a family. The family lives fairly close to the volcano Pacaya. The volcano had just literally blown its top off about two years ago and still smolders today. While being there we meet Margarita and Carlos. Their house had their own well which the strong men on this trip pulled up a bucket for us to dip our hands in to surprisingly find hot water. It was hot because it was boiling from the volcano. As a team we entered the house. It consisted of two rooms, made of metal sheets, and several beds in the back room. There we meet Carlos. Carlos came to faith about eight years ago, and he also lost his leg about the same time. Today Carlos is bed bound because of his legs and he has several bed sores. Through all this though he stays strong in his faith (fuerte en su fe), and what the Lord has planned for his life. Carlos gave us lots of encouragement for our school work and what the Lord has planned for us as well. He read to us Proverbs 5. Take a look if you get a chance. It's worth reading. Once we left the house we found out that it was where the baño for the day was going to be...
We returned to the community center where we stored our belongings, and split into three groups to go do more house visits. I (Paige) will tell you about my experiences at the houses I went to today. My group consisted of David Moldenhauer, Brain Muldowney, Lauren Busch, Mars Reck, and me of course along with two other Guatemalan missionaries. We visited a house that was off the same road as the one on which we entered the village. The women lived with her family and her daughter. It was great experience, and also eye opening to how the culture works. The women became very emotional and as a group we encouraged her to stay strong in her faith and have hope for the future. We had the chacne to pray over her and give her a hug. As a group we learned that hugging an emotional woman is good if it is women hugging each other, but if a man hugs it is not as good and even frowned upon. David still stepped up though and gave her the hug that the poor women desperately needed. (He did this before we really knew about the whole culture thing...) After we finished at that house visit, we went down the road a litter further to another house. Her name was Carmen and she was having hard time understanding that it does not matter where you worship Jesus, or how big the congregation was or how beautiful the church was. We told her what mattered was that Christ was in her heart, and that she stays strong in Him no matter what. Later in the day while we were having our "worship service," Carmen came up and taught eveyone a song, and sang for us. It has been great to see another culture and how Christ is still so present, even though the culture is so different from ours. People are not afraid to show how much they love God, and how emotional they are about praising Him. I have found it interesting that while one person is praying eveyone else is saying their own prayers to themselves. Women who are old are still worshiping God by raisng their arms, coming up front and just being in awe of Christ. It has been a great experience so far for me.
Hey you guys, its my (Josh's) turn to type now. So after we split up I went with Deaconess Betsy, Kyle Salesky, Hannah Maske and Michelle Rodriguez. Oscar was our leader and translator. We went to visit Marco. He was an older man, had a bigger family with lots of kids and was very nice. When we first saw him he was wearing a cowboy hat, but then it disappeared somewhere (I don't know where). We met in a narrow alleyway next to the house. I was shocked we could fit so many people in a small alleyway. He was very strong in his faith, and his only concern was that he might not be able to encourage his family to remain strong in their faith. He also was not a church attender so we encouraged him that he should join a church since he already is part of God's family. The best way to describe him is to quote him. He said that he must trust God first, doctors second. It was remarkable how strong this man's faith was. I could not understand a word he said because I learned all this through translators, and yet his love for God was apparent even before I heard the words. The way he said the words showed his love. It truly amazes me how people with so little are the ones who appreciate God's blessings so much. They only have words of praise and joy for God, not anger or frustration. Yet here in America I struggle so much not to get angry with God even though I have so many blessings. These people have taught me far more than I have taught them. I hope that the lessons I have learned here last when I get back to the States because I want to live my life in thanksgiving, the way that these people do every day.
After we were done with the house visits, we reunited in the community center. There we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with chips and cookies. After we finished eating, we had a 20 person long shoulder massage train. It was incredible.
Then came the people, and there was a lot of them. (Do not fear, reader, Paige is back in control of the keyboard!) Unfortunately, however, there was no father figure in the crowd. This has been something evident to not only Josh and I, but to our whole team. We have learned that this is a big portion of the life style here in Guatemala: 65 % of men leave their families. This has made life difficult for the children and the mother. This is a trend we have noticed a little bit back home, and it makes us want to find or make sure to have a strong, male Christian influence in our lives.
When everyone showed up we started with music! This included the band that you read earlier! Lauren on the ukelele, and me on the guitar. Thankfully, we had Jamie and Brian, because they had the courage to sing with microphones in front of everyone! We are thankful for it because otherwise it would have been Josh...(do not tell him I typed this.) For those who love music dip your musical skills into a few of the following songs that we sang today (pero en español... but in Spanish!):
Peace Like a River (Paz como un rio)
This is the Day (Este es el dia)
Lets us give Thanks to God (Demos gracias al Señor)
Josh is back! I don't have much time, but I just wanted to say that they sounded great!!!
Paige is back... After we did our music we split up into groups of children from three to ten year olds. The group that Josh and I were part of was the older children from eleven to eighteen. Kevin has told us that today was the first day that they had split the chldren up like that and that it worked out really well. Kevin also informed us that in this age group, the girls would start to have babies, so it was super important to get a message across to them, and to encourage them to stay strong in faith to God and one another. The Bible study was on encouraging one another. We have learned that the Spanish phrase for encouraging each other is "Nos animamos." The memory verse is Hebrews 3:13 for those who would like to look it over and memorize it. After we finished we regrouped and had a chance to play with the littler children. They were super great. They were finishing up their lunch and started to have a tickle fight with us Americans. It was great to see them having so much fun, and wanting us to interact with them as well. At one point they cornered Lauren and all you could see were her shoes! David liked to play peekaboo through the broken window with the children. I decided to play "hair monster" with the children...do I need to explain anymore? On the trip back, a few things happened that Josh and I feel like you would enjoy hearing about: Uno, the vanful of people have decided that David is a two year old...yep, we said it. He can not be one, though, because he can speak. Dos, Jamie has a spitting problem...she spit/spewed her water all over David due to the fact that the Deaconess was attempting to speak with an accent. Tres, there is a whole lot of pollution in this country...
We arrived back at the mission house around dinner time and had a dinner that was prepared by Ginny. It was a nice home made meal! After that we prapared for tomorrow and had devotions led by my co writer Josh! He did great! The team is awesome and the theme of encougarement is truly shown in everyone on the team. Tomorrow we will be leaving the house around 7:00, so we are going to be up early visiting Bueña Vista, which is about a two hour drive, and we will be doing the same type of things that we did today!
Here is an original prayer from Josh and I:
Dear Father God,
Thank you so much for today. Thank you for the people we meet and the lives that have touched us in so many different ways. Thank you that we have had the opportunity to touch thier lives as well in whatever way that we can. Thank you for the examples here of servanthood. Lord, we pray for Carlos and that everything will heal quickly and relieve him in his time of pain. Lord, be with those children and families that we met and protect them, strengthen them, and keep them in good health. Thank you for Ginny and Kevin, and the Guatemalan missionaries who have been a blessing to us and the people here. Be with us tomorrow and we pray that we will have safe travels, and a good time. Thank you for this group of people that Josh and I have been able to work with. They have been a blessing to us in so many different ways. Continue to be with us and keep us safe in whatever we do! Thank you most of all for sending your son to come and die for us and that He took on the suffering and pain that we can only imagine. Thank you, Father, for so much. Amen.
Yours Truly,
Josh and Paige
Monday, May 21, 2012
The sights, smells, and experiences of Guatemala City
Hola blog viewers!
Kyle & Lauren here!
Today was a busy day for us in Guatemala! It was our first real taste of Cuidad de Guatemala. After a filling breakfast of pancakes and the wonderful Guatemalan coffee, we headed upstairs for the Devo led by Ruth, and met the Guatemalan missionaries for the first time. First we visited "Only a Child," a ministry led by George, where young men who have previously been living on the streets of Guatemala City are given the opportunity for education and work experience. Their work experience consists of crafting handmade wooden boxes of various styles (ie. a cross, shell, dove etc...) which are sold to help fund the ministry's expenses. Most of the boys from the ministry are young men now, studying at the grade school, high school or college level.
After a quick demonstration of the work done at the workshop, we move on to our next destination. Our team visits the city cemetary, where we see various crypts ("casket condos") which were similar to a mausoleum, but outside and not as well up kept. One interesting and sad thing we learned about these crypts is the fact that they are rented by the family of the deceased, and if the family can no longer afford to rent the space, the casket is simply removed from the space and thrown over the edge of the cemetary into the adjacent city dump. Here we witness the vast difference between American cemetaries and this one in Guatemala City. The city dump not only brought out some horrible smells, but also some strong emotions within the team as we all witnessed the sight of Guatemalans below picking through the trash, and hanging off dump trucks, searching for their only source of food and income. There is really no way to describe this sight the way that we witnessed it.
Next, we head back to the missionary house for some rice, beans and tortillas for lunch with the missionaries. We also celebrated Cesar's 21st birthday at the house, he is one of the missionaries here with Groundwork Guatemala. Shortly after lunch, we split up into two groups and departed for our first set of house visits of the week. Lauren and I (Kyle) were both with different groups, and will share our different stories. Kyle's group left the house first and traveled about 15 minutes across the city to our first visit with Delilah. Betsy and I, having been to Guatemala just this past August, actually visited with her daughter, Jasmin, when we were here last. She shared some of her struggles and concerns with us. She had been struggling with health in her family for a while, and had recently recieved a burn while cooking. One of her daughters was also recently unable to continue recieving a scholarship to attend school because of grades. There were a lot of things that this family was struggling with and it was difficult for our team to hear about this and then try to offer an encouraging word, being from the U.S. where we are so blessed and take so much for granted. We all shared encouraging Bible verses with her and a word of encouragment, and prayer before we headed for our next destination. We traveled for a little while farther across the city before arriving at another house, and gathered around inside. Cesar explained to us all that this was actually his house, and he introduced us to his parents, brother and niece. He told us a little bit about his family and how close they were and how supportive they have been of him throughout the years. It was so refreshing to see a family that was so rooted in the Word and so close to one another. We learned that in Guatemala, it is typical for fathers to be missing from the family, or to be abusive, so it is sadly a rarity to see a family where the father is not only present, but a loving and positive influence within the family as well. It was an honor to meet Cesar's family and we encouraged them to remain in the Word and in fellowship with other Christians. We also thanked them for being an encouragement to us. After this, we prayed, got a group picture with Cesar's family and headed back to the house for dinner.
Shortly after team 1 departed, it was team 2's turn to leave for house visits! The fist visit took place at Elsa's house, a lady who was vistited on a previous trip. At Elsa's house, we met her daughters and listened as she expressed her recent troubles; a group of men had been congregating around her house making her feel anxious about the safety of not only herself, but her family as well. She also shared her concerns for her husband, Manuel, and his search for work in order to support their family. The group shared some Bible passages with the family through the help of our translator, Oscar, and witnessed the evergrowing faith of this wonderful lady. After our goodbyes, we traveled down an extremely steep stairway to visit her 86 year old father-in-law. He discussed his concerns for his grandchildren as they grow up in the distressed country of Guatemala. He expressed how he is concerned for them and the temptations of alcholism, and the risk of not making positive choices in their future. After sharing a few more Bible passages and discussions, we prayed and moved on to our next set of house visits. Our next two visits took place in a seperate community. Here we first visited Marta and her two children. Marta talked to us about her family's health and financial struggles. It was empowering to see such a motivated mother trying to provide for her family. While her husband is away working, Marta shared with us that she is starting her own business of selling clothing in order to do her part in providing for her family. Again, we shared a few verses and discussed the love and protection of God in our lives. After saying our goodbyes, we went on to the final house visit of the day, Noel. When we arrived at Noel's home, we were surprised to see his wife covered with blankets on thier bed and unwilling to speak to us due to a current ailment of 'Dengue fever.' However, Noel was still willing to speak to us and hear what we had to say about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. During our discussion, Noel's daughters "distracted" us by wanting to tickle and play with us. It was so exciting to see the joy and laughter in these children despite their living conditions. The team then said our goodbyes to Noel and the children, then returned back to the mission house for dinner of potatoes, broccoli, and pineapples!
After dinner, the team did a quick clean sweep of the house, relaxed, then met up with some devotions and preparations for the next day in Guatemala!
To be continued.......
Prayer:
(One thing we all learned today is that God's will will be done no matter where we are or what language we speak, so we thought we would leave you with the Lord's prayer in Spanish)
Kyle & Lauren here!
Today was a busy day for us in Guatemala! It was our first real taste of Cuidad de Guatemala. After a filling breakfast of pancakes and the wonderful Guatemalan coffee, we headed upstairs for the Devo led by Ruth, and met the Guatemalan missionaries for the first time. First we visited "Only a Child," a ministry led by George, where young men who have previously been living on the streets of Guatemala City are given the opportunity for education and work experience. Their work experience consists of crafting handmade wooden boxes of various styles (ie. a cross, shell, dove etc...) which are sold to help fund the ministry's expenses. Most of the boys from the ministry are young men now, studying at the grade school, high school or college level.
After a quick demonstration of the work done at the workshop, we move on to our next destination. Our team visits the city cemetary, where we see various crypts ("casket condos") which were similar to a mausoleum, but outside and not as well up kept. One interesting and sad thing we learned about these crypts is the fact that they are rented by the family of the deceased, and if the family can no longer afford to rent the space, the casket is simply removed from the space and thrown over the edge of the cemetary into the adjacent city dump. Here we witness the vast difference between American cemetaries and this one in Guatemala City. The city dump not only brought out some horrible smells, but also some strong emotions within the team as we all witnessed the sight of Guatemalans below picking through the trash, and hanging off dump trucks, searching for their only source of food and income. There is really no way to describe this sight the way that we witnessed it.
Next, we head back to the missionary house for some rice, beans and tortillas for lunch with the missionaries. We also celebrated Cesar's 21st birthday at the house, he is one of the missionaries here with Groundwork Guatemala. Shortly after lunch, we split up into two groups and departed for our first set of house visits of the week. Lauren and I (Kyle) were both with different groups, and will share our different stories. Kyle's group left the house first and traveled about 15 minutes across the city to our first visit with Delilah. Betsy and I, having been to Guatemala just this past August, actually visited with her daughter, Jasmin, when we were here last. She shared some of her struggles and concerns with us. She had been struggling with health in her family for a while, and had recently recieved a burn while cooking. One of her daughters was also recently unable to continue recieving a scholarship to attend school because of grades. There were a lot of things that this family was struggling with and it was difficult for our team to hear about this and then try to offer an encouraging word, being from the U.S. where we are so blessed and take so much for granted. We all shared encouraging Bible verses with her and a word of encouragment, and prayer before we headed for our next destination. We traveled for a little while farther across the city before arriving at another house, and gathered around inside. Cesar explained to us all that this was actually his house, and he introduced us to his parents, brother and niece. He told us a little bit about his family and how close they were and how supportive they have been of him throughout the years. It was so refreshing to see a family that was so rooted in the Word and so close to one another. We learned that in Guatemala, it is typical for fathers to be missing from the family, or to be abusive, so it is sadly a rarity to see a family where the father is not only present, but a loving and positive influence within the family as well. It was an honor to meet Cesar's family and we encouraged them to remain in the Word and in fellowship with other Christians. We also thanked them for being an encouragement to us. After this, we prayed, got a group picture with Cesar's family and headed back to the house for dinner.
Shortly after team 1 departed, it was team 2's turn to leave for house visits! The fist visit took place at Elsa's house, a lady who was vistited on a previous trip. At Elsa's house, we met her daughters and listened as she expressed her recent troubles; a group of men had been congregating around her house making her feel anxious about the safety of not only herself, but her family as well. She also shared her concerns for her husband, Manuel, and his search for work in order to support their family. The group shared some Bible passages with the family through the help of our translator, Oscar, and witnessed the evergrowing faith of this wonderful lady. After our goodbyes, we traveled down an extremely steep stairway to visit her 86 year old father-in-law. He discussed his concerns for his grandchildren as they grow up in the distressed country of Guatemala. He expressed how he is concerned for them and the temptations of alcholism, and the risk of not making positive choices in their future. After sharing a few more Bible passages and discussions, we prayed and moved on to our next set of house visits. Our next two visits took place in a seperate community. Here we first visited Marta and her two children. Marta talked to us about her family's health and financial struggles. It was empowering to see such a motivated mother trying to provide for her family. While her husband is away working, Marta shared with us that she is starting her own business of selling clothing in order to do her part in providing for her family. Again, we shared a few verses and discussed the love and protection of God in our lives. After saying our goodbyes, we went on to the final house visit of the day, Noel. When we arrived at Noel's home, we were surprised to see his wife covered with blankets on thier bed and unwilling to speak to us due to a current ailment of 'Dengue fever.' However, Noel was still willing to speak to us and hear what we had to say about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. During our discussion, Noel's daughters "distracted" us by wanting to tickle and play with us. It was so exciting to see the joy and laughter in these children despite their living conditions. The team then said our goodbyes to Noel and the children, then returned back to the mission house for dinner of potatoes, broccoli, and pineapples!
After dinner, the team did a quick clean sweep of the house, relaxed, then met up with some devotions and preparations for the next day in Guatemala!
To be continued.......
Prayer:
(One thing we all learned today is that God's will will be done no matter where we are or what language we speak, so we thought we would leave you with the Lord's prayer in Spanish)
Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos
Santificado sea tu Nombre
Venga tu reino
Hágase tu voluntad
En la tierra como en el cielo
Danos hoy el pan de este día
y perdona nuestras deudas
como nosotros perdonamos nuestros deudores
y no nos dejes caer en al tentación
sino que líbranos del malo.
Amen.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Guacamole & Rams Horns
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Raise your hand if you used this in your Sunday service. Everyone in the Groundwork Guatemala house is waving both in the air. Praise the Lord for the awesome worship opportunity we had this morning at Minesterios Senderodelacruz!
We started the day with a hearty breakfast of eggs and toast, cooked by our lovely hostess, Ginny. We also had some of the best coffee I've ever tasted, yummmm. After breakfast we practiced some of the songs that we will be singing throughout this week as we get the chance to visit with more Guatemala. At the start of our trip our band consisted of Paige on the guitar, Lauren on the ukulele and many background singers. Today it grew to include Mars on the auto harp (Google it! We tried to find you happy people a picture, but our Guatemala internet went bonkers.) as well as Lauren on the harmonica, and a few new friends learning the ukulele. After jammin' out, it was time for church.
Everyone was super welcoming at church! We had the chance to talk to some students that Groundwork Guatemala sponsors and learn a little more about their lives. From the outside, you would not have guessed that the building was a church. Upon entering, God's presence was evident, and a cultural experience was had by all. The service began with an hour of praise music, followed by three Bible readings. After each reading, an elder from the church explained them in depth. There was a time for prayer, during which people got very emotional. These people, despite the economic and physical trials they may be facing, truly embodied their faith and welcomed us with open arms. The service included liturgical dancers and many musicians including trumpeters, singers, and ram's hornists that created a very different atmosphere from our traditional way of worship. It was very sentimental, and time was not a constraint on the length of worship. The heart language of the people we met today was very different that used in the hymns of American churches, and seeing how moving the service was for everyone showed us that the message of the Gospel is universal. Regardless of the language barrier, it was obvious that the Gospel transcended culture but still was conveyed through this culture (citation: Pastor Jeff =D).
After lunch we had a rundown of what to expect for the week, and a few procedural things to get through. While Ginny was explaining these things a visitor came. Maritza and her two daughters, Adi and Glendi, came to welcome and encourage us. This proved to be another example of how devoted these people (that we are just meeting) are to building relationships with us. In this case, Maritza and the girls spent two hours cooking us tamalitas, a celebratory Guatemalan meal. After prepping, they spent an hour and a half on a bus just to come visit with us. Although there was a language barrier, we were able to connect and share laughs with these women.
After the visit, our team finished up some last minute preparations for our crafts/ music/ skit for the week. We got to spend some time outside on the roof as we practiced our skit, and saw some views of the surrounding neighborhood.
For dinner, we ate some delicious homemade vegetable soup and guacamole. We learned from our host, Kevin, that our guacamole was made from avocados that Manuel (a missionary from Guatemala living in this house) just got from Buena Vista. Manuel brought back 1,600 avocados. How does he store them in his small apartment you ask? We'll tell you. They are kept in his bed for safekeeping, just in case the avocado fairy comes calling.
We concluded our day with a Bible study. Kyle led us in a debriefing of our time here, giving us time to share our experiences. We read about Paul and Barnabus' work spreading the Gospel during the time of the early church. It was encouraging to see how God worked through these men, giving them the words and knowledge they needed at the proper time. We are excited to see how God will work in Guatemala this week! Right after this, we continued our discussion on encouragement and brainstormed ways to incorporate it into our faith lessons that we will be using with the kids we meet this week. Stay tuned to find out how it goes!
Con amor,
Shelle-Shelle and Han-Ban
For our prayer tonight, we'll leave you with a hymn:
O Christ, who art the light and day
Thou drivest night and gloom away;
O Light of Light, whose Word doth show
The light of heav'n to us below.
All-holy Lord, in humble prayer
We ask tonight Thy watchful care.
O grant us calm repose in Thee,
A quiet night, from perils free.
Our sleep be pure from sinful stain;
Let not the tempter vantage gain
or our unguarded flesh surprise
and make us guilty in Thine eyes.
Asleep though wearied eyes may be,
Still keep the heart awake to Thee;
Let Thy right hand outstretched above
Guard those who serve the Lord they love
LSB 882:1-4
Volcano in the news
Buenos Dias!!! Hello friends!
It is our first morning in Guatemala and all is well here at the Groundwork Guatemala house. Everyone is seated around the breakfast table playing music as we get ready to go to church. I just wanted to update you all in case you were watching the news and saw that the volcano Fuego in Guatemala City erupted last night. Please know that this does not affect us and we are all safe. Other than the rain, we are doing great. Here is a link to the news story http://www.itn.co.uk/home/45774/Guatemala27s+Fuego+volcano+erupts and here is a link to the Groundwork Guatemala Facebook page where you can follow Ginny's updates: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Groundwork-Guatemala/65535996953 Make sure you like the page while you are there!!!
Blessings to you all this Sunday!!
Love in Christ,
~Deaconess Betsy Karkan
It is our first morning in Guatemala and all is well here at the Groundwork Guatemala house. Everyone is seated around the breakfast table playing music as we get ready to go to church. I just wanted to update you all in case you were watching the news and saw that the volcano Fuego in Guatemala City erupted last night. Please know that this does not affect us and we are all safe. Other than the rain, we are doing great. Here is a link to the news story http://www.itn.co.uk/home/45774/Guatemala27s+Fuego+volcano+erupts and here is a link to the Groundwork Guatemala Facebook page where you can follow Ginny's updates: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Groundwork-Guatemala/65535996953 Make sure you like the page while you are there!!!
Blessings to you all this Sunday!!
Love in Christ,
~Deaconess Betsy Karkan
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Thank God for Guatemala, Safe Travels, & Chevrolets
Hi everyone!!!
Friends and family of the Guatemala mission team, we have safely made it to Guatemala City!!!!
((This blog post almost never made it to the internet; our team had some difficulties logging on, but thanks to Facebook and Laura, part of the 2011 team, we have it all figured out now!!))
We are grateful to God for a safe journey with no turbulence, luggage mishaps or delays. Arriving in Guatemala was a major culture shock. In many ways, things were not that different from America. On the way to the mission house we passed a Domino¨s Pizza, a Chevy Tahoe (called a Sorona here), and good old Mickey D¨s. Yet the atmosphere feels completely unique, especially from the roof of our Groundwork Guatemala host home. It¨s the little quirks that floor me the most, like not being able to go outside or flush any toilet paper. We¨ve settled in, though, and are now relaxing as a group and then resting up for church tomorrow and a busy week. Tonight we witnessed the 'Queen of the Night' flowers in the garden outside the house. It was great timing since they only bloom one night each year.
Details like that reflect how God has been looking out for our team: allowing our airplane to land, blessing us with welcoming missionaries in Guatemala and letting us appreciate the beauty of this country, evidenced in a small, blooming flower. We know that He will watch over us during the rest of our time here.
The group is really looking forward to seeing more of Guatemala, especially going on house visits and traveling to locations to present our faith lesson, do crafts, and sing praise songs in Spanish. (We do hope that thunderstorms will not become part of the agenda, though!) We know that God has started preparing our hearts and the hearts of the Guatemalan people for a mutual sharing of His love. He will guide our paths and we pray He will use us as instruments for His kingdom this week.
Thank you for checking into our blog! God¨s blessings on your week in America. We appreciate all your prayers!!
Come back online again tomorrow evening for another blog post. =)
Buenos noches,
Emily Michelle
Dear Lord,
Flowers wither, and people come and go, but your Word stands forever. Thank you for giving us your Word and for providing for all of our needs, both great and small. Help me to share your love this week and make opportunities for the mission team to do the same. You are AWESOME.
Amen.
Friends and family of the Guatemala mission team, we have safely made it to Guatemala City!!!!
((This blog post almost never made it to the internet; our team had some difficulties logging on, but thanks to Facebook and Laura, part of the 2011 team, we have it all figured out now!!))
We are grateful to God for a safe journey with no turbulence, luggage mishaps or delays. Arriving in Guatemala was a major culture shock. In many ways, things were not that different from America. On the way to the mission house we passed a Domino¨s Pizza, a Chevy Tahoe (called a Sorona here), and good old Mickey D¨s. Yet the atmosphere feels completely unique, especially from the roof of our Groundwork Guatemala host home. It¨s the little quirks that floor me the most, like not being able to go outside or flush any toilet paper. We¨ve settled in, though, and are now relaxing as a group and then resting up for church tomorrow and a busy week. Tonight we witnessed the 'Queen of the Night' flowers in the garden outside the house. It was great timing since they only bloom one night each year.
Details like that reflect how God has been looking out for our team: allowing our airplane to land, blessing us with welcoming missionaries in Guatemala and letting us appreciate the beauty of this country, evidenced in a small, blooming flower. We know that He will watch over us during the rest of our time here.
The group is really looking forward to seeing more of Guatemala, especially going on house visits and traveling to locations to present our faith lesson, do crafts, and sing praise songs in Spanish. (We do hope that thunderstorms will not become part of the agenda, though!) We know that God has started preparing our hearts and the hearts of the Guatemalan people for a mutual sharing of His love. He will guide our paths and we pray He will use us as instruments for His kingdom this week.
Thank you for checking into our blog! God¨s blessings on your week in America. We appreciate all your prayers!!
Come back online again tomorrow evening for another blog post. =)
Buenos noches,
Emily Michelle
Dear Lord,
Flowers wither, and people come and go, but your Word stands forever. Thank you for giving us your Word and for providing for all of our needs, both great and small. Help me to share your love this week and make opportunities for the mission team to do the same. You are AWESOME.
Amen.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Getting Ready to GO!
Well hello everyone!
We're very excited you are joining us on our journey to Guatemala this week! Today we just wanted to give you an update of what we will be doing and our progress so far.
1 hour ago: Chapel on campus held a sending service for us to pray for the team and for the work we will be doing. This was a great way to prepare for the trip and help focus all of our hearts on what is important - sharing the love of Christ with the people we will minister to.
In approximately 25 hours: We will fly out of O'Hare and be on our way to Guatemala!
When we arrive in Guatemala we will go to the Groundwork Home in Guatemala City, this is where we will be staying all week. We will get settled in and take some time to continue prepping for what we will be doing throughout the week. Also, we will be doing devotions each day with our team and with the Guatemala mission team so we are continuously reminded of our purpose:
"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is so called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13 NIV
This is our theme verse for the trip and what we will use as the foundation for our faith lessons. During the week we will have the chance to visit Guatemala City and learn about the area and the people's conditions there, as well as teach faith lessons and participate in home visits. Monday is our first day of home visits (in Guatemala City) and Monday through Friday we will visit various homes around the area as well. Our faith lessons (similar to VBS with children, teens, & adults) will also be part of our daily activities on Tuesday through Friday.
Throughout the week we will visit Guatemala City, Elrin Con, Buena Vista, & Amatilan. We are looking forward to having the opportunity to share our faith and God's love with so many different people. It's our prayer that this trip would not only minister to us, but also to those that we will meet.
We are very thankful for this opportunity and look forward to what the Lord has in store for us. Thank you for being part of our journey! We will keep you posted each day and ask for you to keep the people of Guatemala in your prayers.
God¨s Peace,
Alyssa & Bryan Conlin
Dear heavenly Father,
Thank you for the opportunity each day that I have to share your love. I ask that peace would be with the people of Guatemala and that they would come to know your glory and transforming life, through your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
We're very excited you are joining us on our journey to Guatemala this week! Today we just wanted to give you an update of what we will be doing and our progress so far.
1 hour ago: Chapel on campus held a sending service for us to pray for the team and for the work we will be doing. This was a great way to prepare for the trip and help focus all of our hearts on what is important - sharing the love of Christ with the people we will minister to.
In approximately 25 hours: We will fly out of O'Hare and be on our way to Guatemala!
When we arrive in Guatemala we will go to the Groundwork Home in Guatemala City, this is where we will be staying all week. We will get settled in and take some time to continue prepping for what we will be doing throughout the week. Also, we will be doing devotions each day with our team and with the Guatemala mission team so we are continuously reminded of our purpose:
"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is so called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13 NIV
This is our theme verse for the trip and what we will use as the foundation for our faith lessons. During the week we will have the chance to visit Guatemala City and learn about the area and the people's conditions there, as well as teach faith lessons and participate in home visits. Monday is our first day of home visits (in Guatemala City) and Monday through Friday we will visit various homes around the area as well. Our faith lessons (similar to VBS with children, teens, & adults) will also be part of our daily activities on Tuesday through Friday.
Throughout the week we will visit Guatemala City, Elrin Con, Buena Vista, & Amatilan. We are looking forward to having the opportunity to share our faith and God's love with so many different people. It's our prayer that this trip would not only minister to us, but also to those that we will meet.
We are very thankful for this opportunity and look forward to what the Lord has in store for us. Thank you for being part of our journey! We will keep you posted each day and ask for you to keep the people of Guatemala in your prayers.
God¨s Peace,
Alyssa & Bryan Conlin
Dear heavenly Father,
Thank you for the opportunity each day that I have to share your love. I ask that peace would be with the people of Guatemala and that they would come to know your glory and transforming life, through your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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