Day Two

The team heard LOTS of Spanish today!! We attended church in the morning and, it turns out, they did not have an interpreter for us. It made it a little difficult for some of us to pay attention when we had no idea what was being said. Partway through the sermon, Carlos raised his hand and interjected some things. It was pretty strange to see that type of discussion going on during church. He was not the only one either! Turns out that the service was based more like a Bible study. That would explain it! The music was pretty cool though. I always enjoy seeing us being able to worship in two languages, yet worship the same God.

After lunch (all the food here is so good. Salvador is the chef and he's amazing!!), Carlos met up with us for the tour. Carlos Vargas is the founder and visionary for this place. He has an amazing testimony and he is completely dedicated to making things happen. We started the tour at the nutrition center. A few months ago, Reid and myself were sent an email from Carlos that talked about a baby he had rescued. The mother tried to bury it alive but a girl in the village watched her do it and when the mother ran away, the girl dug up the baby. We got to meet baby Rex yesterday and he is just about the sweetest thing ever. Angie and Josh just had him laughing away. There are a few little ones with special needs and Carlos plans on building a center just for special needs kids so they can have the attention they will need.

We then did a quick walk through of the senior center. This is where the whole mission started. He began taking in elderly that are family-less, homeless and he makes a family with them all. We heard a story about a couple that met at the senior center and fell in love. They were catching them kissing behind bushes and Carlos said, "are you in love?" they said yes so they had a wedding for them. :-)

We then rode up to the new mission house. A few of our team members last year were able to work on it one day. It's almost at the top of the mountain and looks out over the whole valley. It is a 5 star hotel!! I cannot even begin to describe how beautiful it is. This is where he houses pastors and potential donors when they come. He wants them to be comfortable so they can focus on the mission.

Lastly we went to the orphanage. He has done something new with the kids. Instead of having them divided and housed by age and gender, he has turned the dorms into family homes. He has created little families within the children. They live together, they eat together, they go on outings together. He said he wants them to feel like they have a family and that this is really working. Also, if there are family member, he has grouped them together as well. I LOVE this idea!!

Our group ended up staying at the orphange for a few hours. Josh, Jim D, Zach, Cody, Danny, and Steve started a game of "futbal" (soccer) that lasted for about 2 hours!! Jim K got to meet his sponsor child Lolo. Angie spent lots of time with the toddlers, crawling on the floor with them. Sarah and Rick played all over the playground with some kids. And Ken and myself spent our time with our sponsor kids. We all had a blast!! More to come on this, I'm sure!!

Last night we had church again. No interpreter!!! :-/ Danny gave his testimony, which was very cool. The whole group got up and led two songs for worship. We chose songs they know so the band played for us and we alternated English and Spanish. It was awesome to hear both languages at the same time, again, worshipping together to one God.

The overall consenses at last night's debriefing was that Carlos is an amazing man and the day was very fun. Today we are off to the work site. I will possibly try to get some pictures up tomorrow. Have a wonderful day.

Much love from Guatemala!!