Les made a statement at the beginning of our trip that had a huge impact on my time in Guatemala. When he was speaking to the Beerseba School in Tactic, he told the kids that this group of Canadians would be building a school for you because they love you. They haven't even met you yet, but I know they love you. When Les said this to the children at this school, my mindset for the trip completely changed. I knew we were building part of a school, but it was more real after seeing these kids.
While the work on the construction site was a challenge, or even a struggle at times, we kept pushing on because we knew who we were building for. By the end of our days on the work site, I know my whole team was getting tired. Our last day working was probably the hardest day. We were asked to move hundreds of bricks. We loaded and unloaded one truck, but when it came to loading the truck full a second time, my team was less enthusiastic. A verse came to mind while our work was slowing down. Philippians 3:14 -- "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Jesus Christ." The goal was getting a school built for the kids in Purulha. But the prize was even greater... reaching lives for God's kingdom through the blessing of Christian education.
I was again reminded of our purpose in moving these bricks. As I was passing bricks, I started thinking of the kids I met over the past ten days, realizing that we were moving bricks for them. One of my favorite memories of the trip was when we started putting names to each brick. "This brick is for Carla, this is for Olby, this is for Mynor, this is for Mydia..." When we started doing this, the mood of the team quickly changed and they started to "name" bricks. It was a gentle reminder as to why we did this. The team moved bricks, rocks, cement bags, dug a trench and mixed cement, not because we had to, but because of our love for the kids and the potential we saw in each child. We weren't just building a school, we were building a part of each child's future with every brick that we moved.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Back in Canada
Well... we're home! It's almost a bittersweet thing, for me at least. In some ways I wish I was back in Guatemala already, but in other ways, it's good to be home. I was sipping some amazing Guatemalan coffee while I looked through all my pictures... laughing at some, reliving some memories and thinking about all the changes that have taken place during these past two weeks. Les encouraged us with something before we left Guatemala... He said that this isn't a trip that just lasts for two weeks, it is just the start of something greater. I know that this trip has been life changing for some of the team members. I hope that all the changes I have seen in the team, and in my own life, will be applied to our lives, now that we are back home.
Thank you so much for being with us through this journey. Thank you for all your love, support, prayers, and comments on the blog! And a big thank you to everyone who showed up at the airport to welcome us home with flowers, balloons, signs and I think I may have seen a puppy there too!
I pray for God's richest blessings on each one of you who read this blog!
DIOS TE BENDIGA!!! (God bless you!)
Thank you so much for being with us through this journey. Thank you for all your love, support, prayers, and comments on the blog! And a big thank you to everyone who showed up at the airport to welcome us home with flowers, balloons, signs and I think I may have seen a puppy there too!
I pray for God's richest blessings on each one of you who read this blog!
DIOS TE BENDIGA!!! (God bless you!)
A day to be a tourist...
Thursday was our day to just tour Antigua. Antigua is one of the former capital cities, so it is FULL of history and old buildings. Antigua is very much like Banff, in Canada. People think that once they have been to Antigua, they know what Guatemala is like... just like how people think they have seen all of Canada after they have been to Banff. It is very touristy. We toured through some cathedrals (one that was built in 1545) , saw some ruins from hundreds of years ago, worshipped God passionately in a former convent, ate some pizza and then went shopping! Shopping in the markets was SO much fun! If you were ready to barter the prices, you could get some stuff really cheap! A very fun day that ended with some delicious icecream. We had to be awake and ready to go by 4am, so by the time we were finished devotional and praying, we had about 3-4 hours of sleep!
Here is a picture of the team in Antigua. We are in a church that was first built in 1545, sitting on a column that fell during an earthquake that happened in 1976.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Loving life in Guatemala
Hi all! Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. We have all been so busy with everything from working incredibly hard to meeting new people to eating tons of amazing food. There's lots of stories... but I'm just going to give you a short version because I don't want to miss all of the devotional Les is doing tonight. Tonight is our last night here in Tactic... I think it's pretty sad, but when I look at what has happened in the last week and a half, I am absolutely amazed.
I celebrated my 23rd birthday on Friday. It was SO much fun... a face full of cake, fireworks, and a bunch of Spanish people at our work site singing Happy Birthday in Spanish. It's definately a birthday that I won't be forgetting any time soon!
We have done 3 days of VBS at the Chichoy school. There have been about 50-60 kids out each day. Today was our last day at the school... it was sad to leave because some of the team had developed some relationships with the kids. Things I'm sure the team will not forget! It was so great telling these kids stories and singing with them and helping them with the crafts. Even the teachers of the school were doing the crafts! It was so neat to watch!
On Saturday, we went to a coffee plantation. It was really interesting to find out how coffee is processed. We also found out how the different grades of coffee are sorted. A very interesting tour... even if you don't appreciate coffee as much as I do! Most of the team have bought a few bags of High Altitude coffee (Starbucks buys it for $17/pound... we bought it for $4/pound).
On Sunday, we did a scavenger hunt in the market. Sunday's are the busiest days in the market. We were given a list of items that we needed to buy (all in Spanish) and 100 Quetzals (about $15). We got points for the biggest items, if we got it for the cheapest price (my bartering skills came into action!), and if we actually bought the right thing! It was so much fun! Because we were on a time limit, it kind of felt like we were on the Amazing Race.
Monday, we used muscles that we have not used yet! I know that the whole team is stiff and sore today! Yesterday, we filled a truck with bricks, drove 1/2 hour to the work site, unloaded the bricks, drove to another town, loaded the truck with some wood, unloaded that, drove back to Les' (1/2 hour), loaded the truck again with bricks... and then finally got to eat some food. I think that lifting and stacking bricks use totally different muscles than mixing cement! My shoulders are SO sore! But, with every brick, we said that we were moving the bricks for the kids who were going to be in the school. The trench the we dug is now finished... that means that the school in Purdulha now gets breakfast in the mornings! It's awesome to see the immediate results of our work!
Some of the team have sponsored a child. When we sponsor a child, they get to go to school, get breakfast, get some new clothes... and it helps out the family too! It was amazing to see the quality of life that some of these kids have, but they are still HAPPY! They get to go to school and they know Jesus... what more do they really need! It's so great to see these kids light up when they realize that someone from Canada is going to be praying for them, sending them letters and pictures, and that they get to go to school! There were about 6 or 7 kids that were sponsored while we were doing home visits. While we were doing home visits, we also visited the two children that RCS sponsor. It was such an eye-opener to see everything!
There's lots more stories... but I'm missing out on Les' talk. Plus, I want to leave some stories for the team to tell you! Tomorrow, we are heading to Antigua, the old capital city, just to be tourists. The team is really excited about bartering... they all want to shop with me because I got Jesse a pair of jeans for really cheap (they started at 135Q, I got them down to 50Q... which is about $7!). Haha! We'll see about that.
Hope everything is going good back home! I know everyone sends their love back home!
I celebrated my 23rd birthday on Friday. It was SO much fun... a face full of cake, fireworks, and a bunch of Spanish people at our work site singing Happy Birthday in Spanish. It's definately a birthday that I won't be forgetting any time soon!
We have done 3 days of VBS at the Chichoy school. There have been about 50-60 kids out each day. Today was our last day at the school... it was sad to leave because some of the team had developed some relationships with the kids. Things I'm sure the team will not forget! It was so great telling these kids stories and singing with them and helping them with the crafts. Even the teachers of the school were doing the crafts! It was so neat to watch!
On Saturday, we went to a coffee plantation. It was really interesting to find out how coffee is processed. We also found out how the different grades of coffee are sorted. A very interesting tour... even if you don't appreciate coffee as much as I do! Most of the team have bought a few bags of High Altitude coffee (Starbucks buys it for $17/pound... we bought it for $4/pound).
On Sunday, we did a scavenger hunt in the market. Sunday's are the busiest days in the market. We were given a list of items that we needed to buy (all in Spanish) and 100 Quetzals (about $15). We got points for the biggest items, if we got it for the cheapest price (my bartering skills came into action!), and if we actually bought the right thing! It was so much fun! Because we were on a time limit, it kind of felt like we were on the Amazing Race.
Monday, we used muscles that we have not used yet! I know that the whole team is stiff and sore today! Yesterday, we filled a truck with bricks, drove 1/2 hour to the work site, unloaded the bricks, drove to another town, loaded the truck with some wood, unloaded that, drove back to Les' (1/2 hour), loaded the truck again with bricks... and then finally got to eat some food. I think that lifting and stacking bricks use totally different muscles than mixing cement! My shoulders are SO sore! But, with every brick, we said that we were moving the bricks for the kids who were going to be in the school. The trench the we dug is now finished... that means that the school in Purdulha now gets breakfast in the mornings! It's awesome to see the immediate results of our work!
Some of the team have sponsored a child. When we sponsor a child, they get to go to school, get breakfast, get some new clothes... and it helps out the family too! It was amazing to see the quality of life that some of these kids have, but they are still HAPPY! They get to go to school and they know Jesus... what more do they really need! It's so great to see these kids light up when they realize that someone from Canada is going to be praying for them, sending them letters and pictures, and that they get to go to school! There were about 6 or 7 kids that were sponsored while we were doing home visits. While we were doing home visits, we also visited the two children that RCS sponsor. It was such an eye-opener to see everything!
There's lots more stories... but I'm missing out on Les' talk. Plus, I want to leave some stories for the team to tell you! Tomorrow, we are heading to Antigua, the old capital city, just to be tourists. The team is really excited about bartering... they all want to shop with me because I got Jesse a pair of jeans for really cheap (they started at 135Q, I got them down to 50Q... which is about $7!). Haha! We'll see about that.
Hope everything is going good back home! I know everyone sends their love back home!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Another great day!
Mmm... just finished another amazing supper at Les and Rita's. Seriously, I didn't think that we would be eating this good while we were in Guatemala! Carmela is their cook... and she is an absolute blessing to the Peter's and to the teams that come down here.
Just another little memory that I forgot to write about yesterday... while we were in Central Park in Guatemala City, there was a man walking around with his 3 goats, selling milk. Les decided that we needed to experience some Guatemalan culture, so he bought a glass of fresh goat's milk. As we were passing the glass around for everyone to try... someone piped up and asked if the milk was cold. Haha! It came straight from the goat... it was pretty funny!
Today, we did some more construction at the new school we are building. Eric ordered another truckload of rocks, so we had lots of work to do today. Moving rocks, cement, mixing cement, passing water down the line... lots of team work. It really makes you work as a team when you are on a construction site together.
After working, we did our first VBS in the Chichoy school. There was about 40-50 kids there. It was a lot of fun doing our drama, story, craft and then just playing with kids... making some great memories.
It was another great day! We are starting to really bond as a team. It's great to see everyone working together and trying to develop new relationships. Tomorrow may be our last day on the work site, and then we are going to do some home visits of sponsored children.
Just another little memory that I forgot to write about yesterday... while we were in Central Park in Guatemala City, there was a man walking around with his 3 goats, selling milk. Les decided that we needed to experience some Guatemalan culture, so he bought a glass of fresh goat's milk. As we were passing the glass around for everyone to try... someone piped up and asked if the milk was cold. Haha! It came straight from the goat... it was pretty funny!
Today, we did some more construction at the new school we are building. Eric ordered another truckload of rocks, so we had lots of work to do today. Moving rocks, cement, mixing cement, passing water down the line... lots of team work. It really makes you work as a team when you are on a construction site together.
After working, we did our first VBS in the Chichoy school. There was about 40-50 kids there. It was a lot of fun doing our drama, story, craft and then just playing with kids... making some great memories.
It was another great day! We are starting to really bond as a team. It's great to see everyone working together and trying to develop new relationships. Tomorrow may be our last day on the work site, and then we are going to do some home visits of sponsored children.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Our first few days in Tactic
There has been so much going on here in Guatemala. I don`t even know where to start. I think we have all experienced some serious changes in our lives already. God is here... He is working in our team. And it is SO exciting to see! The team has quickly realized that I am the emotional one of the leaders... I`m sure they have all laughed at me, but I am absolutely blown away by everything here.
Monday... in Guatemala City... after eating in Pollo Campero... we toured around the capital city. On our walk through Central Park, we saw everyone cleaning up after Holy Week (easter). The fountain was off, but they turned it on, just for us! We had a wonderful tour of the National Palace. Our tour guide, Jorge, was great... very knowledgeable about all the history in the Palace and in the country. It was a very interesting tour. After going through the Palace, we toured through the Cathedral across the park. Les explained to us a lot about their religion and the differences and similarities between Christianity and Catholisism. There were so many images inside the church that were a little disturbing... idol worship and other stuff. It was really interesting to see how they take what is truth in the Bible, and just give it a little twist in some areas and completely disregard other areas. I think it was really good for our team to find out the history and the relgion of this culture. I think it opened our eyes a bit and prepared us for some of the other things we will be experiencing while we are down here.
After touring the Capital city... we drove for a few hours, up the mountain to Tactic. I don`t think any of us would have thought we were ready for what we were going to see as we were driving... everything from policemen walking around gas stations with guns, to major wealth, to extreme poverty. It definately opened my eyes.
Tuesday morning... (Brittany`s birthday)... we went to Beerseba school to have a devotional with the kids at the school. It was something that I definately was not prepared for. Knowing that these kids come from extreme poverty, but seeing how they absolutely ADORE their Saviour. They weren`t just singing... they were shouting to the Lord... praising God is ways that we don`t back in Canada... Complete worship, not holding anything back... but just loving God! Incredible! Makes me wonder why we don`t worship our Majestic King like that back home...
After being at the school, we drove about half an hour to the work sight. We are building a school on land that was given to Impact Ministries. It`s an incredible story about how they got this land... we`ll have to tell you later! So, our job was to move rocks... sounds easy, but these rock were so heavy! Seriously, after our two weeks here, we will all have some pretty sweet arm muscles!
I want to skip ahead to today... because there was so much that happened, but the team has started their devotional with Les and I want to finish this up quick...
Today, we went to Chicoy school for our devotional. It was incredible... again, the kids worship God like no other. After they were done singing, Les introduced us, and then asked the team to come up the the front. All the kids in the school came up to the front, laid hands on us, and prayed for us. It was amazing to see them all praying for complete strangers. After prayer was done, we all lined up outside for hugs... those kids give the BEST hugs! I wish that I could have done that all day! There was one little boy, Edgar, he came through the hug line about 3 or 4 times! He was so cute!!!
After the devos, we went to a sinkhole. This is a place where the witches go to worship the gods of the underworld... a place made some beautifully by God, but then changed into something so evil. Les gave us a big talk about all of this... that we needed to go into the sinkhole with faith, not fear... because fear is not from God! We went down into this amazing piece of creation... it was absolutely incredible. When we were at the bottom, by all the sacrifices and the altar, we started singing worship songs. We sang and prayed... God was there. It was an absolutely incredible feeling... the presence of God was there, and HE was the only one that had any power in that place! I cant even explain how phenomenal this experience was.
We did some more work after the sinkhole... moving more rocks and building more muscles. Its awesome to see the school that we are building for these kids, and that progress we are making on it.
Lunch was next... some amazing tortilla thing, stuffed with cheese, with cabbage and tomato sauce on top. It was delicious. And the coffee here is amazing! Did you know that you can buy a pound of coffee here for about $4 CDN... and they sell it to Starbucks for $17 CDN. I will be bringing home some coffee... no doubt about that!
After lunch, we headed over to the hospital to do some visits. This was a very sad thing to see. We saw babies that had just barely been born, babies that had been abandoned, children who had problems... and to hear the stories about how far some of these people had to come just to get help for their kids. It is really sad... but it really makes you appreciate what we have at home.
One highlight after the hospital was going for icecream... YUM. Cappucino, Pina colada, mango... so good.
That is about it for now... I am going to leave now... I am missing out on a really good devotional.
Monday... in Guatemala City... after eating in Pollo Campero... we toured around the capital city. On our walk through Central Park, we saw everyone cleaning up after Holy Week (easter). The fountain was off, but they turned it on, just for us! We had a wonderful tour of the National Palace. Our tour guide, Jorge, was great... very knowledgeable about all the history in the Palace and in the country. It was a very interesting tour. After going through the Palace, we toured through the Cathedral across the park. Les explained to us a lot about their religion and the differences and similarities between Christianity and Catholisism. There were so many images inside the church that were a little disturbing... idol worship and other stuff. It was really interesting to see how they take what is truth in the Bible, and just give it a little twist in some areas and completely disregard other areas. I think it was really good for our team to find out the history and the relgion of this culture. I think it opened our eyes a bit and prepared us for some of the other things we will be experiencing while we are down here.
After touring the Capital city... we drove for a few hours, up the mountain to Tactic. I don`t think any of us would have thought we were ready for what we were going to see as we were driving... everything from policemen walking around gas stations with guns, to major wealth, to extreme poverty. It definately opened my eyes.
Tuesday morning... (Brittany`s birthday)... we went to Beerseba school to have a devotional with the kids at the school. It was something that I definately was not prepared for. Knowing that these kids come from extreme poverty, but seeing how they absolutely ADORE their Saviour. They weren`t just singing... they were shouting to the Lord... praising God is ways that we don`t back in Canada... Complete worship, not holding anything back... but just loving God! Incredible! Makes me wonder why we don`t worship our Majestic King like that back home...
After being at the school, we drove about half an hour to the work sight. We are building a school on land that was given to Impact Ministries. It`s an incredible story about how they got this land... we`ll have to tell you later! So, our job was to move rocks... sounds easy, but these rock were so heavy! Seriously, after our two weeks here, we will all have some pretty sweet arm muscles!
I want to skip ahead to today... because there was so much that happened, but the team has started their devotional with Les and I want to finish this up quick...
Today, we went to Chicoy school for our devotional. It was incredible... again, the kids worship God like no other. After they were done singing, Les introduced us, and then asked the team to come up the the front. All the kids in the school came up to the front, laid hands on us, and prayed for us. It was amazing to see them all praying for complete strangers. After prayer was done, we all lined up outside for hugs... those kids give the BEST hugs! I wish that I could have done that all day! There was one little boy, Edgar, he came through the hug line about 3 or 4 times! He was so cute!!!
After the devos, we went to a sinkhole. This is a place where the witches go to worship the gods of the underworld... a place made some beautifully by God, but then changed into something so evil. Les gave us a big talk about all of this... that we needed to go into the sinkhole with faith, not fear... because fear is not from God! We went down into this amazing piece of creation... it was absolutely incredible. When we were at the bottom, by all the sacrifices and the altar, we started singing worship songs. We sang and prayed... God was there. It was an absolutely incredible feeling... the presence of God was there, and HE was the only one that had any power in that place! I cant even explain how phenomenal this experience was.
We did some more work after the sinkhole... moving more rocks and building more muscles. Its awesome to see the school that we are building for these kids, and that progress we are making on it.
Lunch was next... some amazing tortilla thing, stuffed with cheese, with cabbage and tomato sauce on top. It was delicious. And the coffee here is amazing! Did you know that you can buy a pound of coffee here for about $4 CDN... and they sell it to Starbucks for $17 CDN. I will be bringing home some coffee... no doubt about that!
After lunch, we headed over to the hospital to do some visits. This was a very sad thing to see. We saw babies that had just barely been born, babies that had been abandoned, children who had problems... and to hear the stories about how far some of these people had to come just to get help for their kids. It is really sad... but it really makes you appreciate what we have at home.
One highlight after the hospital was going for icecream... YUM. Cappucino, Pina colada, mango... so good.
That is about it for now... I am going to leave now... I am missing out on a really good devotional.
Quotes from some of the girls...
Hello all!
Just thought we would put some funny quotes on here from our adventure already... Most of these won't be that funny to you, but to us, they are pretty hilarious!
*"Do your ears hang low??? (the song)
*Shanna... "Can someone turn that rooster off?"
*Lorissa... "It's a big, fat, juicy one (as she hands rock to Shanna)"
*Amanda, Jill, Lorissa... "That's a Jill and Lorissa burrito (in a hammock)" "That's one hot burrito" "Extra spicy!"
*Lorissa... "Burping is my favorite thing to do... BURP!!!"
*Jill... "Look! Corn!"... 2 minutes later... "Look! Corn!" ... 3 hours later... you get the picture!
*All the girls... Okay, quiet time... Jill... that means you!!!
*Amanda...`Is that rock strong enough to move the earth
*Sorena... *splash! (rock falling into water)... `who was that!`
*Candace... Can any one explain to me again what a foundation is... (as we were moving rocks for the foundation)
*Jill... So, if there`s Dollaramas in Canada... are there Quetzal-a-ramas in Guatemala
*Contessa... It`s a rat! (as a baby mouse runs across the counter)
*Alex... I`m just imagining that there`s wind!
So... there`s just a bit of insight of what our girls talk about! Really, we are doing work down here. And we do have a lot of serious moments!
More to come...
Just thought we would put some funny quotes on here from our adventure already... Most of these won't be that funny to you, but to us, they are pretty hilarious!
*"Do your ears hang low??? (the song)
*Shanna... "Can someone turn that rooster off?"
*Lorissa... "It's a big, fat, juicy one (as she hands rock to Shanna)"
*Amanda, Jill, Lorissa... "That's a Jill and Lorissa burrito (in a hammock)" "That's one hot burrito" "Extra spicy!"
*Lorissa... "Burping is my favorite thing to do... BURP!!!"
*Jill... "Look! Corn!"... 2 minutes later... "Look! Corn!" ... 3 hours later... you get the picture!
*All the girls... Okay, quiet time... Jill... that means you!!!
*Amanda...`Is that rock strong enough to move the earth
*Sorena... *splash! (rock falling into water)... `who was that!`
*Candace... Can any one explain to me again what a foundation is... (as we were moving rocks for the foundation)
*Jill... So, if there`s Dollaramas in Canada... are there Quetzal-a-ramas in Guatemala
*Contessa... It`s a rat! (as a baby mouse runs across the counter)
*Alex... I`m just imagining that there`s wind!
So... there`s just a bit of insight of what our girls talk about! Really, we are doing work down here. And we do have a lot of serious moments!
More to come...
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