Guatemala was a bit different for me this time around- but in a great way! Especially because I was leading the trip rather than just following others around. So thank you so much for your prayers in that area. The Lord showed me a lot about being confident as a leader. I learned that you need to trust in the gifts that God has given you and that He equips the people He calls! For whatever that may be in life. Be confident where you are! And if God is leading you somewhere else, be confident in His ability to use you in a new adventure! We're children of God for crying out loud! Do your best and He'll do the rest.
Yes, we did accomplish a lot on this trip. But before I get into that I just want to remind you that whatever happens to a person on a "heart-" or "spirit-level" is what lasts. Your support also enabled those powerful impressions to happen for each and every person on my team. In fact, for me, that was the best part of this trip- to see those on my team grow in confidence, in service, in selflessness, in true humility, and in the truth of the love of Jesus....all the stuff that's difficult to describe in words. God is good, and He did a good work in us, through us (I believe), and through you and your support. So thanks again!! :)
So this is Claire. She helped me lead the trip. I was in Guat with her 2 years ago as well. She's an awesome friend of mine from UBC. This is the compound in which we stayed for the first half of our time in El Tizate.
Yes, we did accomplish a lot on this trip. But before I get into that I just want to remind you that whatever happens to a person on a "heart-" or "spirit-level" is what lasts. Your support also enabled those powerful impressions to happen for each and every person on my team. In fact, for me, that was the best part of this trip- to see those on my team grow in confidence, in service, in selflessness, in true humility, and in the truth of the love of Jesus....all the stuff that's difficult to describe in words. God is good, and He did a good work in us, through us (I believe), and through you and your support. So thanks again!! :)
So this is Claire. She helped me lead the trip. I was in Guat with her 2 years ago as well. She's an awesome friend of mine from UBC. This is the compound in which we stayed for the first half of our time in El Tizate.
Climb up the hill from our compound (shown above) and you'll reach the school that we helped teachers in and spent time with kids in. This is the great multipurpose room at the school where we worshiped Jesus with the kids and ate breakfast with them. These two dudes were sharing their lunch with me. A lot of these kids come from extremely abusive and neglectful homes so this school is often their safe haven- there are many stories of these children going home and singing songs about God and speaking about the love of God, and the parents begin to feel the weight of the pain they cause at home and they get filled with a desire to turn things around. They start taking their kids to church AND asking their teachers how they can help their kids improve in school! Ya, big changes.
That dude at the breakfast table on the very left is Angel (pronounced on-hel). He's quite special to me because I started sponsoring him 2 years ago. Super amazing experience to see him again this time around- and also meet his mother!
This school, being a non-profit, will take all the help they can get! Basically everything in these classrooms was handmade by the staff, and by teams like ours.
Construction! I'm on the right, next to my buddy Mario, who I did construction with for 2 months a few years ago. On the left is Jackie and Dave. We are currently in the process of building our "Carrera" school (high school sort of thing). It's a massive project so I'm glad we could help out! MUCHO wheel barrowing to make them some level ground!
Halfway through the trip, we transferred into host-home families. This is Mina's house! She's hosted many Canadians over the years. She welcomed in my two friends and I. Cooked us all our meals. Very very nice lady. This was a great time for us to interact more intimately with the Guatemalan people and share with them an appreciation of Guatemalan culture (including food and drink)!!
Field trip with the English class. I was teaching Justin and Melvin how to communicate during lunchtime!
The next few pictures are of the various children's programs we did at different cities around the country. Lots of work, lots of fun! Sometimes a few kids, sometimes a lot!! Over 100 kids at one of these things...
JOCOTENANGO
ESQUINTLA
CIUDAD VIEJA
We went to one church and painted...apparently the lady who is the director for youth and children at this church had been praying for years that a team would show up there and help her paint the walls, and maybe have murals...we HUSTLED and in 5 hours we painted 3 large rooms with a mural in each room. Your money went into stuff like these art and paint supplies and it SUPER blessed this lady as she was crying with joy when she saw the rooms. Such a blessing to be a blessing:)
Hamper Run:
When new families come into the school, the directors of the school usually bring a gift of a hamper of food to welcome the students and their family to the school. It's a time to make a connection, encourage the family, give them food in case they're running low, and pray for them too. In this particular picture, I'm sitting in the bed of a pickup truck heading with some food to a family's home. One thing the mother of this home said was that her kids had been saving up their money for a long time, and they just recently broke their little piggy banks so that they could pay for transit to get to the bible camp/kids program we were running in their town. Now realize that this family of four was living in a very, very small one room house. They don't have much money to spend and they spent it to receive what we were offering. WOW! Sometimes I wondered how much the parents and kids appreciated what we were offering, but this was a reminder to me that what we were offering was a significant opportunity for them all. Yeah, blessed to have the opportunity. And I'm more than blessed to have what I have back home.
As a way of saying thank you for us coming to their churches, the pastors would often take us out for dinner or invite us over to their homes. We would then have the opportunity to listen to their stories, ask them for wisdom and then pray for them before leaving. Awesome times, they're great, great people!
Well that's all the pictures I've got! Lots and lots happened in between and around these things I've mentioned, but I hope that gives you a good idea of our time there. Thanks for reading!!
Also, here are some random videos for your viewing pleasure:
Walking up the hill in El Tizate to the school
Worshiping with the students in the morning at the school
Getting acquainted with the town and our host-home stays
Dinner with Pastor Cesar's family after running the kids program at his church in Ciudad Vieja
Dropping off a hamper of food to a family fairly new to the school
