One Last Road Trip

Buenas noches amigos, esto es Sarah,
     It's crazy that this week is wrapping up so quickly. It feels as though we just got here, yet tomorrow will be our last day. God has blessed our time here abundantly. It's clear to see with every new day that each of us has a special purpose in being here.
     Today started out like many others, breakfast just the way you like it at 7am, then devotions to follow. The location today was Gonzales Park (Spoiler Alert: This "Park" is an old basketball court with broken-up cement and only one basket with no net). As soon as we got there we split into 3 groups because we had multiple people who decided to sponsor children from this location. When you decide to sponsor a child you are taking care of their tuition costs to attend school for the year. Many children don't get to go to school because their families can't afford it so children go without an education. In Guatemala it is nearly impossible to get a job as an adult without a high school diploma.
   Every group had a unique experience during their house visits. I went with Maddie and am so happy I did. Maddie felt called to sponsor 2 children and the first we visited was Blanca. The area we were in today was way more urban than we have experienced so far, but some things remained the same. Blanca's house had a tin roof, dirt floors, and sheets separating the different rooms. Their main room didn't have a roof, but it had a batch of newborn puppies lying on the floor who seemed to be in very poor health. We also saw the mother dog nearby who was so malnourished her ribs were clearly visible. Our heart strings were first tugged on when we saw the puppies, but quickly were hit much harder. Blanca and her mother (who was also named Blanca) introduced themselves to us. We then introduced ourselves to them and one of the Guatemalans on the ministry team, named Sandra, kept pushing me to speak Spanish and to help translate. After the introductions Blanca's mother delivered a very heartfelt and emotional thank you to our group and especially to Maddie. As she was speaking I was trying not to get choked-up as me and the Guatemalans were the ones in the room at that point who could understand what she was saying. As we translated her kind words to Maddie, her own tears started flowing. It amazes me how kind the Guatemalans are to us consistently as they ask strangers into their homes. They are constantly so thankful just for our presence and prayers. After Blanca's mom said her words, Blanca said some of her own about her thankfulness to Maddie and she started crying too! It was such an emotional visit, but I thought it was truly beautiful for them to be so grateful and connect with Maddie so much after just meeting her.
     After leaving la casa de Blanca, we went on to find Maddie's other sponsor child, Josuè. His house was the complete opposite of Blanca's as it had a car in the garage, cement walls and floors, wooden doors, and healthy pets. In this home, however, lived multiple generations. The head of the house was the grandmother of Josuè. She was the caretaker of Josuè, his 2 siblings, his cousin, her 93 year old mother who is very ill, and her 2 sisters. She is unable to work because of all the people she takes care of  and said that by Maddie sponsoring Josuè she is not only helping him, but helping his who family as they can use that money to provide other necessities. Everyone in this house was very kid, but it was a much less emotional experience.
     Once we left the last house we went back to the park and ate our homemade PB&J's for lunch. After lunch we headed down the road to John the Baptist Park for the faith lesson with all of the children. It started off a little rough with one of the children realizing I understood her and then proceeding to tell me her entire family history, followed by Courtney getting hit in the face with a microphone while singing the word "Donde"(where) instead of the word "Porque"(Because) loud and proud! Even though the beginning was rough, I think we made up for it by delivering our best performance of our skit so far. The reading of the verse by Despina went smoothly as well. After that it was time to make our sheep. It truly warms my heart to see these kids making the sheep my family and I put so much time into putting together. They are always so proud of them and it is just the sweetest thing. Today was a little less heart warming than normal. We didn't realize that yesterday the kids were pretty rough on the glue sticks and we ended up very short on them. Kids kept gathering around us asking for our glue sticks when we only had about 1 per 10 kids. Finally I just sat down on the ground in the middle of the kids with my one glue stick and roll of tape and asked the kids to give me their pieces. It was more stressful today than normal, but it was still so nice to see them happy and playing with their sheep.
     The kids finished their lesson by receiving a box of milk and some bananas on their way out the door. We then walked back to the buses to use the bathroom and head back to Kevin and Ginny's house. On the way back we stopped by a lake which had a beautiful view, but as we got closer we saw it was actually a nice shade of green and cringed as we saw locals swimming in it. We took a few photos by the lake with our Guatemalan friends and then kept on our way back for dinner. Mac and cheese with black noodles was muy bien and we thoroughly enjoyed hearing stories from Kevin and Ginny's past. Currently we are sitting around laughing hysterically about different events which have happened over the week including Melissa getting pooped on by a bird and Clair telling Skyler that she looks like a hamster.
     Thanks for reading my very detailed explanation of our day and I hope you all are doing well at home. We can't wait to be back sharing about how God has used us through the course of this week.

Buenas noches y dios le bendiga,

Sarah

P.S. Happy birthday Melissa! Maddie loves you so much and hopes you had a great day!