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.
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