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2011 August 07 El Salvador 2011 Day 7El Salvador Day 7
It is hard to believe that this was the last day here! Today we visited an orphanage in Ahuachapán – which is a town about 2 hours from San Salvador…it is very close to the Guatemala border. This orphanage houses girls from 1 to 13 years of age. The little girls are absolutely precious…every trip the comment “Can we stick a few of them in our suitcase?” come out when it gets close to departure time! There were only 19 girls here this year…in the past there have been between 50 and 75! Every year our team gets whipped in basketball by the older girls…this year there were not enough of them that enjoyed playing. It was a very calm day that started with singing, the bible verse, coloring, and then lunch. After lunch the girls decorated the drawstring backpacks and then went out to play. They loved the bubbles, chalk, playing with balls and of course the piñata.
This day was so full of blessings it is hard to even think of them all! First of all, Amber was able to see Maribelle – a little girl that she has a special relationship with. Maribelle was at a different orphanage previously but has been moved here. They were both so excited to see each other. She made the comment to Amber…you came back! I can’t even begin to tell you how many times the girls have made comments similar to this.
Since this is our 3rd year to come to El Salvador and visit these orphanages – we are seeing some of the same children and are building wonderful relationships with them. They remember our team members by name and ask for the ones who are missing. Sometimes we wonder if what we are doing is making a difference…does one day really matter? These girls have expressed over and over again that it does make a difference. Each day before we leave we tell them good-bye and if a team member has something on their heart to say they do so. The children at the orphanages often follow suit with us. They express in heartfelt ways how much our visits mean to them. How they appreciate the love we show them and how much it means to them that we take the time to visit them. These girls are not prompted by anyone to express their gratitude and they do a tremendous job at it.
We saw a little girl today who was just a baby when we first visited…she was just over one. We have seen her each year and it is amazing to watch her grow. Most of the time children in orphanages do not have any photos of themselves…we actually have many pictures documenting her life. It is always hard to tell these little girls good-bye!
After we left the orphanage we went to a park in the middle of town…it has a pavilion in the middle with a walkway around it with lots of benches and sidewalks. The team wanted to go and hand out all of the remaining tracts and bibles that we had. We drove over there and got out and started handing them out. The people were very receptive…a couple of girls actually ran after one of the team members and asked him to take a photograph with them after he gave them a bible. Some of the team members walked around and witnessed to people, some handed out bibles, some had conversations with locals and some decided to open air preach. All of this was very well received. It was neat to look around and see so many people sitting in a public area reading the bibles and tracts that were given to them. People would actually ask if we had any more bibles.
One of the biggest blessings of my day was when we had our evening devotional…I looked around at the youth that were on the trip and thought about what each of them had contributed and I was amazed. These young adults are so passionate about sharing their faith – not only with the orphans but with everyone. They all mentioned that they would rather spend the day next year this than having a day off to sigh see!
We ate supper at the hotel tonight and then it was time to pack up and get ready to go home! We are leaving the hotel at 3:30am.
2011 August 05 El Salvador 2011 Day 6Wow…today was a very long and emotional day…but also very rewarding. I hardly know where to begin…I guess the beginning is always the best place! The orphanage that we went to today was 1 ½ hours from our hotel and it houses about 28 girls between the ages of 12-18. It is in a very poor area. When we arrived we spotted a little girl – about 3 years old standing at a make shift fence looking at us. Shirley decided to give her the bag of cookies that she had. The little girl was so excited. We noticed that she had a little brother – probably 2 years old. After we cooked the hot dogs for the girls we brought the left- overs to this family. When we walked over there – we saw 3 little children…the baby was 1. It was a very sad situation. This home really had no enclosure – it was just in the trees…there was a little covered area in the back and the ground was dirt. The little children had very little clothing and were filthy. They ran over to the fence to get the food. They were so excited. This was one of the most difficult things to see. We gave them hot dogs, chips, cookies, juice boxes and most importantly a bible. We had Luis translate to them why we were there and that the most important thing we gave them was the bible and that they needed to know Jesus. The dad said that he would read it. When we left at the end of the day we saw the mother and another child…probably about 5-7. Please pray for this family…they have nothing except each other.
Now to the orphanage…Ronnie and I have both been drawn to a girl there named Rosa. Last year before we left she told Ronnie that she wouldn’t be here when we came back this year because she was going to be 18 years old. She said that she had some family but didn’t know if she was going to be able to live with them. We were both very sad about the fact that she was not going to be there. When we arrived the guys started unloading the bus as the females began talking with the girls as they came in. I was totally caught off guard when Rosa walked in. I went over and hugged her and told her hello…and then I burst into tears. I couldn’t even stay in the same room. I went and got Ronnie – who was very concerned with why I was crying – I could barely tell him why I was crying. Needless to say…he was very excited to see her also.
We were very worried about visiting this orphanage because every team has always loved it. They nuns that ran it were so sweet – but they were not longer there. There used to be 50-55 girls and we couldn’t figure out where they were going. Apparently El Salvador is locating parents and taking them to court and making them care for their children. Several of our team members have bonded with specific girls. It was difficult to watch and see if they were there. Some were and some were not. We did find out that one of them will be at the orphanage we are visiting tomorrow. She has a sister at this orphanage…they haven’t seen each other in a month and a half. She was able to write her sister a note for us to deliver tomorrow.
We sang songs, painted nails, ate hot dogs, decorated drawstring bags, played lots of basketball, soccer and volleyed around a playground ball. We then had them break a piñata. It was then time to say our good-byes. Some of the girls wanted to dance for us – they do this every year. They also gave us a beautiful card that they made for us thanking us for our visit. They also sang us a song…which was in Spanish so we didn’t know what they were singing. At our team meeting Luis told us that the song was about how people are sometimes depressed and others come and share with them and give them hope. It was very sweet of them and confirmed to us that it does make such a difference to them. The girls also sang Happy Birthday to Kim – and then they had a little surprise for her…they threw her up in the air once for each year of her age….it was so funny!
We came back a different way so that we could see the ocean. It was a beautiful ride…the road winds down the mountain and you can see the mountains all along the coast. We got out and put our feet in the ocean for a few moments – the sand was black and the waves were big. We then found a restaurant to eat – we were seated outside overlooking the ocean…but it started to rain so we had to go inside. The food was good! We were all so ready to get back to the hotel to get showered. It was a long day - it is very hot at this orphanage – the cafeteria – where we stay for the day is very muggy and we were all feeling filthy and drained plus the bus ride was a little longer since we went along the ocean. We had a short meeting because it was a very long day.
Please continue to pray for the health of the team. Monica – one of the translators has not been feeling well at all and a few others are having some stomach issues. The team is excited about tomorrow but sad that it is the last day! I hope that there are no errors in this email - but it is very late and I am not going to have time to proof read it!
2011 August 05 El Salvador 2011 Day 5El Salvador Day 5
Today was our day off. We went to a lake that is in a volcano. It is a beautiful lake with clear blue water. We took a couple of boats on a ride around the lake. The driver of the boat – took us to a place in the lake that had what they call thermal waters. They were hot spots. He told us that the water was hot enough to boil an egg. We all got out at the shore and touched some of the water – and it was hot. There were also some hot rocks that if you kept in your hand too long would burn you. I was standing barefoot in the sand and my feet sunk in and it was hot! It was a neat experience. He then took us to a place where we could swim. One of the two boats had to go back for some repairs!!! Yikes…these are not your typical boats…they are very old and are in need of some repairs! When the boat got back we all loaded back in the boats for the slowest boat ride back to the restaurant. The one boat died out and it took a few seconds for the driver to get it started. Our driver told us we were going to have to pull him back in – which was a scary idea! We all made it back to the restaurant safely!
The food at the restaurant is very good. After we finished our meal we headed to the souvenir market. The traffic was back because it is a national holiday here! Everyone is off work from Thursday and all through the weekend. They pretty much shut down everything. We arrived at the market at 5:54 – and it closes at 6:00. Several of the shops had already closed for the day….but the others stayed open so that we could buy our souvenirs. We weren’t there long! We then headed to Wal-Mart to purchase some supplies for the girls we will be visiting tomorrow. We returned to the hotel and ordered a couple of pizzas for supper while we were having our meeting.
I want to mention how well the younger members of our team are doing at presenting the devotionals each night. It is such a blessing to see so many young people who want to serve. Any time we ask for volunteers – they are always ready to help. I hear so many “I will do it” comments that it just amazes me! We have a great team. Please pray that everyone will be feeling well tomorrow. We have had a few that have had minor stomach issues, and a couple that have cough/cold issues. The smog is so bad here that it is really bothering a few of us!
2011 August 04 El Salvador 2011 Day 4Today was a very long day! I hope I can remember even a little of what happened. We went to the Special Needs Orphanage today. The residents (age 7-50) were very happy to see us when we arrived. Some of them have very slight disabilities and it makes us wonder why they are there. There are others who have severe handicaps. Most of the ones who are out and about have been there each time we have visited. They seem to remember us. We brought lots of soft balls for them and spent some time tossing them back and forth. We then presented a bible lesson and sang songs with them - they absolutely loved the music. Several of them kept coming up and wanting to sing to us. They were precious. The music always has such a calming effect on them. We played some more and then passed out some gospel tracts and some bibles and then it was time to leave.
I want to share with you about one of the men at this orphanage. He has been here each of the 4 times I have visited. The first time we came – he told us about how God had created us all and that everyone was special to God. He them told us this…”God misses you when you don’t seek Him!” Very convicting! This year he told us about heaven and hell, about the plagues, that God was going to destroy the earth with fire and that he was going to create a new earth where everyone got along with each other and that it was going to be paradise! He told us about Jesus death and Resurrection on the 3rd day, he told us that there was power in the blood of Christ! After he finished I told him that he blesses us each time we come. His response was this…”God is the only one that blesses!” Once again…he set us straight! We asked him if he goes to church and he said no! He said that sometimes evangelical people come and visit. He told us he learned all of this on his own. His name is Carlos and he seems very depressed. We all feel that he is perfectly capable of holding a job and functioning to some degree it the world….I can see why he would be depressed with his situation. We tried very hard to let him know that God had a plan for his life and that maybe it was to be the one to tell all of the other residents about God. We gave him and some other residents a bible and said our goodbyes!
After lunch we went to the AIDS orphanage which is right behind the Special Needs Orphanage. There were 14 young children. When we first arrived they were very shy and reserved. We sang a few songs, had the bible lesson and then since we prayed for them. Since there were 16 of us and 14 of them – we each took one child and prayed for them. This seemed to be the turning point for most of them. We then went out to play and each child had bonded with the person who had prayed for them. I took a picture of each of us with the one we prayed for so that we could have it and remember to pray for them this year! As I walked around to take the pictures…each child was playing with the one who had prayed for them. We had a great day with these children. There is a girl who is 15 at this orphanage who is in a wheel chair. She is not able to talk or anything. They told us that they needed to find her a wheel chair that they could wheel into the shower. We are going to try to find one before we leave. We asked about their needs and were told that the only need they had at this time was milk. They were giving the children water with rice powder in it.
We noticed another building on the property and asked about it and we were told that it was an Emergency Center for teen mothers. They only keep as many as they can afford to feed – which at this time is 4 mothers with their babies. It was a nice place. Each bedroom had 2 beds (for the moms) and 2 cribs. Each mother took care of their child. They can stay until they are 18 years old.
When we left the orphanages we went to the store and purchased 40 HUGE bags of powdered milk for the children. We also purchase some diapers for the Emergency Center. They knew that we were bringing milk back but were shocked when we unloaded many boxes filled with bags of milk. We are guessing it will last for a VERY long time! I cannot tell you how kind the people here are. When we go into the stores they go out of their way to help us. Then they box it all up for us and thank us for being there. We have found this in all of the stores we have visited. The staff at the hotel is the same way. At this point they know us because we stay here every year. No matter what we ask of them…the answer is “no problem!”
It has been an emotionally draining day! Please continue to pray for the children we visit and our team!
2011 August 03 El Salvador 2011 Day 3Today was a great day! We arrived at the orphanage which is about an hour and a half away at about 9:30. When we arrived all of the children except 10 were in school. This is an all girls orphanage with about 50 girls between the ages of 8-17. We got all of our stuff unpacked and ready, spent time some time with the 10 of them, then prepared the hot dog lunch. The rest of the girls got out of school at noon. We served them a lunch of hot dogs, chips, cookies and juice boxes. The hotel is very kind and purchases all of the meal supplies for us. We think that they counted wrong today because we ran out of hot dogs. All of the children ate – but some of the workers at the orphanage didn’t get any and neither did our team. Other than that the day went smoothly. After lunch we taught the bible lesson, did a craft, painted some fingernails, played basketball, jumped rope, and chalked on the sidewalk.
Since this is a transitional orphanage and the girls only stay for two years – we were surprised to see 5-10 girls that have been here the past 2 years. One 16 year old girl had a 2 year old daughter – it was sad to see 2 generations in the orphanage. I have never seen this before but I was glad that she was allowed to have her daughter with her – because this orphanage is for older girls. All of the girls help take care of the little one and she calls them all Mama.
Before we left we had a piñata for the girls to break. We have never done this at this orphanage before…the past 2 years we did not have the time so we just left it with the nuns. Once the piñata was broken this girls all flew to the ground and were on a pile on top of each other. I have never seen anything like it. You couldn’t see a single face – just a pile of girls lying flat out on top of each other! It was hysterical – I was so shocked that I couldn’t take a decent picture. I am hoping that one of the other team members got it.
We left the orphanage around 5:00. Before we left a few of the girls told our group how much the visit meant to them and that their doors are always open to our group. We ate at the hotel tonight and had our team meeting – and devotional and everyone went back to their rooms. You could see that the team was worn out! The orphanage today was very hot…there is not a lot of air flowing through the buildings…which are not air conditioned. It was probably in the 80’s today.
Please be in prayer for our team – tomorrow is going to be a tough day. We will visit the Special Needs Orphanage and the AIDS orphanage. These are both very hard! Please also pray that the team will stay healthy. My voice is coming and going as is the case with a few other team members. The smog doesn’t help at all!
2011 August 01 El Salvador 2011 Day 2El Salvador Day 2
Today we went to an orphanage that has had between 250-300 children the past 2 years. Today we only saw about 75 children between 3-13 years old. They told us that they had moved the older boys to another location. This orphanage and a couple others have new directors this year. We were only at the orphanage from 9:00 am – Noon. We were hoping that they would let us stay longer – but they didn’t. It also rained while we were there so we had to stay inside with the children. This required some flexibility on our part. We started the time with a bible lesson and then we prayed a blessing over the each child – they children love this! We then spent some time singing – some in Spanish and some in English. We improvised and played “Duck Duck Goose” and “Hot Potato” with them. They really enjoyed it. When the rain stopped we were allowed to go outside to play basketball, soccer, football, and jump rope. We were only outside for 5 minutes and the rain came again – so back inside we went. They allowed the children to jump rope inside – which really surprised us. You would be surprised at how many different games you can play with a jump rope. Several of them had the ropes tied around their waist as our team members held onto the ends. They pulled literally ran them around the cafeteria. If you can picture someone walking several dogs…that are running faster that you can walk…that is what it looked like…but it was the children instead of dogs. It was hilarious! Some had themselves tied up into trains – running around…one of the older nuns was in the middle of one group…too funny. This went on for a long time. At 11:45 they began to round up the children to tell us goodbye. They thanked us for our work and for continuing to visit. There were a couple of stories in this brief time that moved our team members. The first one was that one team members was able to see a little girl that had made a lasting impression on him last year. He was happy to see how she had grown. Last year she was shy and didn’t talk or answer questions and kind of hung back and had to be encouraged to join in with the others. This year she talked and answered his questions and played. Another thing that happened was during the time a few of our team members were visiting with the children 3-5 years old. A little boy came in and it was his first day. All of the other little boys went up to him and were hugging him and trying to get him to join in with them as they played. They were telling him that they loved him. It really touched a few of our team members to see how these little boys seemed to be genuinely concerned for him and how he was feeling.
When we left the orphanage we went and ate at Pollo Campero – which is a big favorite here in El Salvador. We were then left trying to figure out what we were going to do with the entire afternoon. Our bus driver suggested that we drive up the mountain and view the city. It was nice – but we couldn’t see very well because it was very overcast and foggy. We climbed the trail to the top of the mountain and looked down at a crater. It was a nice afternoon. The team is looking forward to tomorrow because we will be able to spend the entire day at the orphanage. Oh…I almost forgot to mention that it was about 60-65 degrees on top of the mountain. It felt nice! Sorry – I just had to mention that we got both rain and cool weather here!!!
2011 July 31 El Salvador 2011 Day 1We arrived safely in El Salvador and we are all excited to begin ministering to these orphans. We left Brenham at 5:00am this morning because our flight left at 9:15a. While we were checking in one of our team members realized he had his wife’s passport – fortunately he was one of the team members that lives in Houston. He called his wife to bring his passport. The line was so long to go through security that by the time we all got through he had caught up with us. After that the trip was uneventful! When we arrived here our bus driver was here to greet us. The owner of the bus had parked the bus to wait – and he got off the bus. His phone decided it didn’t want to have service so he didn’t receive the calls saying we were ready. After waiting a little bit we were on the road. After we checked into the hotel we ate lunch/supper and then went to the store we usually shop at called Hiper Piaz – we were very surprised to find that it is now a Wal-Mart! We purchased most of the supplies that we will need for the week. We then came back to the hotel and had our nightly meeting and then we all headed to our rooms.
We will be visiting our first orphanage tomorrow and things have changed since last year. We called the orphanage to confirm that we would be there tomorrow (which we do before we visit any orphanage) and we were told that they had another group coming tomorrow afternoon and we could only stay from 9:00 – 12:00pm. We are hoping that will change tomorrow after we arrive. We have found that many of the orphanages here have had leadership changes since last year. The old people know us and love to have us come. Please pray that all of the orphanages will be welcoming to our team and that we would be allowed to share the bible lessons with them and that Christ’s love would be evident in us and that He would be honored!
2011 March 20 Guatemala Day 7Guatemala Day 7
Today was our final day in Guatemala and the entire team was well again! We got up a little later this morning since it is our day off. We spent the day in Antigua – which is about 45 minutes away from our hotel. On the way there a couple of the team members decided it would be great to gather up the rest of our snacks and tape the rest of our Spanish tracts on them and hand them out. Since Antigua is a tourist city we had Raul looked for some needy people along the way. We came across what he thought was a little village on the side of the road. The bus stopped and several of the team members went back off the road to the houses (there were 2) and handed out some of the snacks. As we drove into the city most of the team got off of the bus to hand out gospel tracts to the locals. It was such a blessing to see the team have such a heart for sharing the gospel with others.
When you get to the touristy part of the city the streets are cobblestone and there is a beautiful volcano that overlooks the city. After we had lunch at Pollo Campero – a very popular restaurant in Guatemala and El Salvador we went to the market place to purchase our souvenirs. It is always lots of fun bargaining with the locals! We spent several hours at 2 different market places. As we walked back to the bus, Raul took us through the part of the market that the locals shop…it was fun to see that also.
After we finished with Antigua we went out to eat at a Brazilian restaurant…all I can say is I have never eaten so much meat. It was a nice experience and Raul and Sara met a nice couple who have offered their ranch when a team returns. They will be in Texas shortly and they are planning on talking again.
It is hard to believe that the trip is over and that we will be heading home tomorrow – it is kind of bittersweet. We want to go home to see our families, but we will miss the children. We have had a great week. This team is awesome and we all worked together nicely and it is our pray that God was glorified in all that was done this week!
On a personal note...this is my 5th trip to Central America in the past 2 years – and I have tried my hardest on each trip to learn some basic Spanish phrases – to no avail…the best I have been able to do is “Hola”, “Gracias”, “Adios”, and I was able to count to 5. I have had such a mental block with this language. It has been so frustrating to me. I am always having team members ask me how to say basic things and I have no idea how to do it! I can understand some of what is being said…but can’t repeat it. Well…I am so happy to say that yesterday it all clicked with me! I am FINALLY able to say phrases…and when I read the words I am able to pronounce them! I cannot tell you how excited I am about this! I do have to think carefully before I speak or I say the wrong thing. I cannot wait to learn more! This has been such a blessing to me!
We are all excited to be returning home to our families tomorrow. Please pray for safe travel!
2011 March 18 Guatemala Day 6Guatemala Day 6
The two team members who were sick yesterday were better today…but we had another team member sick today – he is already feeling much better. Please pray that no one will be sick on Sunday when we are traveling home…I know from an unpleasant experience that they will not let you board a plane if you are sick.
Today was our last day to visit an orphanage. That is always a sad time. The orphanage we visited today has 85 boys ages 5-16. There is another orphanage very close that brought their about 30 children over for the morning. That orphanage has young boys and girls. There were also about as many boys and girls from the village there as there were orphans. All of these boys and girls were very well behaved. This orphanage director runs a tight ship! We were actually able to spend more time with the children today than we were at any of the orphanages all week. Last year there were many people from the villages so we really didn’t know what to expect. We had 600 bags of cookies, chips, drink boxes and we fixed 600 hotdogs! While part of the team was getting the hot dogs ready the other half of the team presented the lesson and then played with the children. We then fed all of the children and then played some more. We then made the bracelets. All of the children then put on a program for our team. They presented the flag, sang their national anthem, said their pledge and then the dancing and music began. The children were so cute dancing and they take it so serious. They wanted us to experience their culture. We learned that it is disrespectful to clap after the national anthem…it is too serious. We then lined up and they lined up and each child gave each team member a hug on the way out. It was very sweet.
When came back to the hotel to eat and have our meeting and devotion for the day. To sum the devotional up…God called Samuel at a very young age and he said “Here I am!” We have seen so many of the youth on this trip and previous trips who have heard the call of the Lord and have also answered…”Here I am!” All of the adults have been extremely blessed by these youth and young adults. They are here serving the Lord and obeying His call on their lives! Not only are they here to serve the orphan, but they desire to share Christ with the world. If you are young and are reading this…do not ever let anyone tell you that you are too young to serve the Lord! If you are “not so young” and reading this...please do not ever look down on someone because they are young…they have so much to offer and have such willing hearts! We have all been tremendously blessed!
Every time we bring a team on a trip we tell them that love is a universal language and that communication is not as big of a problem as one might think. This is always a hard thing to imagine for team members…but all of us have had this confirmed to us over and over again this week! As I finish typing this, Raul is at another church preaching. He is very bold in his preaching and does not hold anything back. God blessed this ministry immensely when He brought Raul to us! We are so thankful to have a Spanish speaking board member who loves the Lord, and these children and who has a tremendous heart to serve others! The fact that he and his wife are from El Salvador and they know the culture is an added bonus!
Tomorrow we will have our day off and will be in Antigua. We are hoping to have a fun day relaxing and enjoying this beautiful country before we return home on Sunday.
2011 March 18 Guatemala Day 5Guatemala Day 5
I forgot to tell you a funny story from yesterday…when we were leaving the orphanage the bus wouldn’t start so the guys all had to get out of the bus and push it. The driver (Carlos) was then able to get it going. We were so thankful that this particular orphanage had enough room to do this. Today Carlos went and got a new battery for the bus and we haven’t had to push it again!
We had 2 team members that had some sort of stomach virus or they ate something bad…we aren’t quite sure which one. Both of them stayed back at the hotel today. They are feeling somewhat better but are not by any means feeling well. Please keep them and the rest of the team in your prayers.
We arrived at the orphanage this morning and were taken on a tour of the orphanage because the boys were in school. This orphanage houses 70 boys from 3-15. It is actually built into the side of a mountain. It is so beautiful to stand at the top building which is the chapel and look down at the villages below! When we came on our fact finding trip a year and a half ago they told us that they were trying to build an orphanage for girls. Today they took us next door to the land that it is going to be built on. It had a bright yellow concrete wall all around the land. There was a slab already poured for the playground. It was very nice to see the dream we were told about start to become a reality for these children. They are expecting start working on it in a few months and have it ready by the end of the year. There were some little girls from the village at the orphanage for lunch today. All of the children were very well mannered and were very respectful. They had musical instruments and they played some music for us…it was so much fun! There was a little boy who - about 4 years old playing some sort of a whisk type instrument. He took his job very seriously and was just precious! The orphanage directors continue to tell us that these children need love, touch and affection and most of them soak it up!
After we left the orphanage we came back to the room to eat and change very quickly! Then we were off to a church in the village where Raul preached a message. When we arrived at the end of the main street that leads to the village – we had a police escort to the church. They stayed and escorted us back to the main road. It was like we were dignitaries or something. Many, many people responded to Raul’s message – we didn’t get to hear what it was because it was after 11 when we arrived back at the hotel. This was definitely an experience that I will never forget. The music was great! We loved it! They really knew how to worship. We left at 9:45pm (it started at 7:30 pm) and they were just getting their second wind – Raul told us they would probably continue on until midnight…and it is a Thursday night! Their culture is so different that ours – in the USA we all have somewhere to be or something to do - not so here!
2011 March 16 Guatemala Day 4Guatemala Day 4
I really do not even know where to start…this has been a crazy day! First of all, Risa ran a fever all night so she stayed back at the motel today. She was thinking that she had the flu. When we arrived back this evening we were happy to hear that she is feeling much better!
We arrived at the orphanage a little early again today. We were made to feel very welcomed…the nuns and the children remembered our group from last year. They remembered the returning team members by name and they were so excited and asked if we had “hot dogs”! They were thrilled when we assured them that we had them. This is such a treat for these children. This orphanage has 170 boys from 3-13 years old and it has its own school for the boys.
When we arrived the boys were in school. They assembled them for us to have our bible lesson. It was a little chaotic - but not too bad…after all…boys will be boys! Raul shared his lesson and then we played with them for about an hour before we started to prepare the lunch for them. The boys all came in at the same time for lunch…and let me just say…they were VERY excited that we were there and that they were eating hot dogs! There is no way that I can explain in an email the noise and chaos that ensued! After lunch we cleaned up the mess and then gathered them together again to present a little skit on sin. It took the nuns about 20 minutes to get them seated…they were embarrassed and said that the boys are not used to all the sugar in the juice. We sang a few songs with them and then they were dismissed to their classes so that we could make the bracelets with them. Let me tell you…the boys in the classrooms were not the same boys that we saw before. They were very well behaved and they listened, took notes, asked questions and did a very good job with the bracelets. The boys really toe-the-line when they are in the classroom. We were very thankful that they listened so intently to this important message. After they finished we went back outside to play. We gave them the basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, Frisbees, bubbles, and side walk chalk and we all had a great time with them.
The first little boy I saw when I arrived was probably 3 years old and he was precious. He just jumped into my arms and hung on. Then he wanted me to put him on the money bars and he would hang there until someone else got on and he would wrap his legs around them until they jumped down…and the process was repeated over and over. This cute little guy only had on one shoe so I called him my wet little one-shoed monkey. While Raul was preaching he was picking old chewed gum off the wall and was putting it in his mouth and chewing it! I think every one of us has a similar story to tell about how one of the boys melted their heart – even in the midst of the chaos! God was present with us and we are all feeling so blessed by these children. We laughed so much tonight just thinking about our day.
After we left the orphanage we ate at the best restaurant…yummy! When we got back to the hotel Risa was waiting for us and was feeling much better which was great news! Every evening we have our team meetings – to update the team on what to expect the next day and to recap the day. We also have a team member share a bible lesson or devotional of their choice…this is completely voluntary. Tyler led out tonight and did a wonderful job. The young adults and youth on this trip are amazing. They love the children, serve the Lord boldly and are a great joy to be around. I can’t wait to see all the Lord is going to do in and through them in the years to come! They have blessed us all!
2011 March 15 Guatemala Day 3Guatemala Day 3 I am going to apologize now for any typos that may be in any of these updates…at the end of the day we are all extremely tired and I usually don’t have time to proof read what I am writing! Today has mostly been a day of travel for the team. A few team members got up and went to the village and purchased lots of food, cleaning supplies, and undergarments for this orphanage. It was such a blessing to be able to provide for some of their needs. We headed back across the lake at 9:00am to deliver the items we purchased along with some bibles and to visit with the children again. The lady who runs the orphanage gave us a tour of their facility. They have over 25 acres to garden…it is such a neat set-up! We only spend about 2 hours there and the children were in school so we didn’t see much of them today. We had to leave the orphanage by 11:00 so we could check out of our rooms by noon and head back to Guatemala City. Ugh….another 6+ hour bus ride…but these children have been so worth the long drive and lack of sleep! On our long journey back we noticed we were getting a flat time when we stopped for gas. So we had to stop and get it fixed. While we were waiting one of our team members climbed a tree to get his wife a mango, and the girls decided it was time to cut Tyler’s hair…so it was an eventful stop to say the least! We were able to hand out gospel tracts here – so we are praying that they seeds planted will harvest a fruit! After they fixed the tire the rest of the trip was very uneventful…except for the car we saw that had no doors…the driver had himself roped to the seat so he wouldn’t fall out…we loved it! We heard lots of funny family stories and got back around 7:30pm. We had our team meeting while we waited for our supper to come. We were all so tired that everything seemed hysterical. Risa is not feeling well tonight…please pray that she will feel better tomorrow. Pray for the 170 boys who will hear the message at the next orphanage.
2011 March 15 Guatemala Day 2Guatemala Day 2
We got up and left our hotel at 4:00 am because there was construction on the road we were going to be traveling on and we were afraid we wouldn’t get here by noon. Since we left so early we missed the construction…which was a huge blessing. We arrived at the Backpackers Hotel a little before 10:00. The hotel is owned by the orphanage and it is one of the ways they fund the orphanage. The rooms are like camp dorm rooms with bunk beds, a shower, sink and toilet. It is a fun experience. We took small motored boats across the lake (about a 15-20 minute ride) to Casa Guatemala. There are about 280 boys and girls at this orphanage from age 2-18. Some of the children are from the village and do not actually live at the orphanage but go to school there. All of the buildings except the dining hall are built over the water – it is a very different place - it is in the jungle and there are howling monkeys in the trees. This is definitely a unique experience!
We made it over to the orphanage by 11:00 – we weren’t supposed to arrive there until after 1:00pm. Since we got there early we were able to spend more time with the children, which was also a huge blessing. Some of the children at the orphanage remembered our group from last year. Instead of cooking them supper we were able to feed them their hot dog lunch. After lunch we had our bible lesson with the children. Raul talked with them about Joseph and God’s purpose for him. He told stressed that Joseph had to have a relationship with God so that he could be obedient to what God wanted him to do. He told them how Joseph had been a dreamer, sold into slavery, been in jail, been an interpreter, and finally he had gained favor with Pharaoh and was able to rescue his family from famine. He challenged them that no matter what their circumstances were – God had a plan for them also and that they needed to be obedient to Him and listen to Him. He will continue to give this message at all of the orphanages that we visit.
After we had the lessons 5 of the boys from the orphanage played a basketball game with 5 of our team members. It was a 10 minute game that was very amusing and it ended up in a tie! After this we gave them a juice box and a package of cookies and then had craft time with them. We taught them to make string bracelets with the colors of salvation:
Red represents the blood of Christ which He shed for us so that we could have our sins forgiven. White represents purity – when we become a Christian all of our sins are forgiven because of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross – therefore we are washed as white as snow. Green represents the growth that should take place in us as believers. Just as a tree grows fruit – so should we as believers show evidence of the fruit of the spirit in our lives. We told them that the fruit of the spirit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Yellow (or gold) represents the promise of eternal life for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. God has promised we will live in heaven where the streets are paved in gold.
We also gave them the scripture that went along with each of these colors. After we finished the craft it was time to head back across the lake to the Backpackers Hotel. We had an early supper and then had our group devotional and were ready to wrap up the day by about 8:30pm…which was necessary since we have had 2 VERY early mornings! Our team has been very, very flexible with the changes. Everyone is getting along real well and God is using each person on the team. Please continue to pray for us!
2011 March 13 Guatemala Day 1Guatemala Day 1 We arrived safely in Guatemala before noon today. We got a lesson in flexibility as soon as we arrived. We were expecting to see our previous bus driver from the past 2 El Salvador trips and the Guatemala trip last year – but he was not here – he was sick. Joel jumps in and becomes another team member and over half of our team had been on a trip with him in the past and we love him dearly. Many of you may know that he came to know the Lord the first trip he drove for us. I guess the Lord wants us to share Christ with our new driver. Carlos is not as good with directions as Joel…so we drove around quite a bit today trying to find the hotel, the store, back to the hotel…but everyone has been very patient and flexible. On the bright side it gave us a chance to see the city! After eating lunch at Pollo Campero – the awesome chicken shack of Guatemala and El Salvador - we went to Hiper Paiz to do most of the shopping for the week. We got lots of stares as our team of 16 with bright blue matching shirts loaded up shopping carts with 1500 hot dogs, buns, bags of chips, cookies packages, juice boxes, plates, napkins, and lots of diapers, cans of tuna, and milk to bring to an orphanage. It is so much fun to be able to bless these children in this way. We returned to the hotel and unloaded all of the goodies. By this time it was already after 7. The team then met for a quick bite for supper and a devotional for the night. We are supposed to be getting to bed early tonight because we will be leaving at 4:00am for our orphanage tomorrow morning. Ugh!!!! We are going to Rio Dulce which is about 5 hours from here. We will spend the afternoon with the children at Casa Guatemala and then spend the night at the Backpackers Hotel. The next morning we will get up early and go back to the orphanage until lunch time and then we will head back to Guatemala City. We will not have our computers with us so I will not send out an update until Tuesday night. Please pray for safe travel and that the children and the workers in this orphanage will see Jesus through each of us. This orphanage has no religious affiliation and they let anyone come in and share with the children. These children hear conflicting stories about who God is and whether or not Jesus is the Son of God. Please pray that they will be receptive to the message that Raul has prepared for them and that the team members will be able to share the love of Christ with them. On a final note…we have a great team assembled. 2 of our team members did not even know they were coming until Wednesday of this week…and they have both been a blessing to us. I was very saddened when the 2 others had to drop out – but trusted that God knew who He wanted on this trip and that He would work out all of the details…and He has done that! I will send another update on Tuesday!
2010 August 07 El Salvador Day 7Today was our day off. We got to sleep in a little. We all really hated that it was the last day. Everyone really wanted to go see some more children. We ate breakfast and then left for the lake. This lake is in a volcano. It is just beautiful! The water is such a deep, clear blue. We rented 2 boats and went out for a tour around the lake. These boats aren't like our fancy boats...very simple. We all got to jump out and swim for about 30 minutes. It is so much fun! We then went and ate at the restaurant...the food was awesome. They serve whole fish...head and all - but it tastes great! We then went to the souvenir market to buy some gifts. We then had supper and headed back to the hotel for our evening devotional.
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