Let me begin by saying that I am so thrilled to be going to Guatemala again! I absolutely love the organization Students International and the opportunity we have to see and interact with the staff and people in Magdalena. God always does incredible things amongst our group! I love living with host families and being a part of “life” in Guatemala.
Happy Fathers Day to all of you Dads! We are able to celebrate with you today as we made it home early this morning. We left Guatemala City last night at 8:00 and arrived in LAX at 12:00 midnight. We then passed through customs to our CHARTER BUS!! Wow! That has to be the best homecoming ever…not only were we provided with a very comfortable bus, but Moms! Snacks and food, soda and water galore! American food! We were all (the students and myself) so excited to have real food. What a blessing you all are! Thanks so very much for this, what a great bunch of parents we have. And not only that, but all of your comments and prayers for us these past 2 or even 3 weeks has been a real blessing to the team. God was served in Guatemala, and it wasn’t without tears for many of us, we were humbled, stretched in our faith, and given a new awareness of how God’s world works. Guatemala is so dear to my heart, and each year as I go as a leader is more difficult to say goodbye – they have become as family to me. It has been such a joy for me to bring your kids and share that love with them. Thank you, and I pray that what we learned there in Guatemala doesn’t stay there, that here in Visalia it will grow and multiply and God will be evident in who we are to the core. Blessings to you students – I love ya!
this was by far one of the hardest days-saying goodbye to everyone here at our worksites and describing our experiences. It was great to hear from the students firsthand about their work here. This morning we had to say goodbye to Tori and Austin as they were planning to leave early for the Vannette wedding. Tonight was the banquet, we were served an awesome dinner, saw each Site get a certificate and souvenir, and then watched the video that the media site put together. Wait until you see it – each student will come home with a copy! It was so good and will give you a complete picture of our work here. We are getting excited for our trip home and seeing all of you!!
today was our last day in our individual sites and I had the opportunity to see the art site in action! The students finished a mural on a host family’s wall complete with mountains, a river, rocks, and flowers!! They added a Bible verse in the corner, and their names. Very nice work! We then went into the art room and shared Kathy Da Costa’s testimony, and put our handprints on the wall in paint, and signed our names. This afternoon we had a talk on what reentry might look like in a few days. Intereting stuff about how we might process and share our experiences here. We need to integrate what we learned here, and be prepared to share without overwhelming people with our stories. Tonight we all had dinner with our host families, and visited with them. Father’s day is tomorrow here, and it breaks my heart that my family’s niece and nephew’s Dad just died of cancer just a little over a month ago. They are so little 8, 4 and 3 months. Be in prayer for the Mendez family, especially on Friday. Tomorrow night is the work site tour in the morning, and the banquet at night. So excited for the video that the media site put together of our experiences!!
God of justice…we will go.. Live to feed the hungry, stand beside th broken… Such great lyrics as we began our day at worksites today. It has been great seeing your kids serving at the child sponsorship and social worksites today. I witnessed gifts being bought for sponsored kids in Antigua, and saw some special patients at The hospital Hermano Pedro. Yesterday I visited the agriculture site and visited homes in need of vaccinations for their animals and saw God working through Students International bringing hope to these humble people. God is using those in the ag site in very hands on ministry-I am so impressed with them and their building a pig pen for a family in need. We have been seeking out monetary ways to help as well. Thankyou parents for your thoughts, prayers and comments!!
We are all so blessed to be here!! Went on our excursion on Saturday to the ecological park. It apparently was a long hike, but beautiful. A BBQ lunch of carne asada guacamole and black beans with tortillas was provided. Went to church yesterday and heard a great sermon by Mario. We spent the afternoon exploring the market in Antigua, and ate at Antigua’s fancy McDonald’s. Today we are back at worksites and have a staff testimony this afternoon. Except for a few kids, we are all feeling strong.
We are going to the ecological park this morning and having a barbecue at the top of the mountain. Look for some great pictures to come!! We have a movie showing tonight and church service and Antigua tomorrow. We had a great devotional this morning on being focussed and tensing in Him. God has been so good to the team and we are excited to see what is in store for next week.
Give up everything for the sake of the gospel, and walk in the light. “God is light, and in him there is no darkness.” I John 1:5 In our morning devotions and quiet times, we have been talking about what that means. We walk in a well lit room with no problem, however in a dark room we stumble and fall. We need to learn to walk in the light and live as Jesus did, showing love to one another even when it may not be easy. To love one another, we must continually walk as Jesus walked. Darkness keeps us from seeing God and seeing things as He wants us to. Another fantastic day at our ministry sites!! The media team has been posting pictures to it’s facebook page which I have linked to this blog-check to the right of this post and you will see it. Tonight we had a poverty talk that put our huge world into perspective and talked of the village of 100. They shared some surprising statistics one being that 50 percent of that 100 are malnourished and 53 of them live on $2.50 per day. That was followed by an evening meal of beans and rice with water or coffee. “to whom much is given , much will be expected.” Luke 12:48 God is revealing so much to our team,keep praying for continued health and spiritual growth. Thank you for all of your comments and prayers. We love our families!! Hope you get a chance to check out the pictures linked on this page, your kids are busy at work!!!
