Day Seven (January 22)

Day seven brought about some mixed feelings among the team members. It is our last full work day here ans tonight we will need to start packing to go home. We have to leave here by six am so we can get tot the airport. There is another team flying in tomorrow so the bus has to be there to pick them up. Unfortunately for us that means we have to get to the airport much earlier than we planned.

The started with another yoga session lead by Chrys. Jim D was there again and I believe she was joined by Margaret and Sarah but either stayed very long. I would have been there but I was working on a blog. (That´s my story and I am sticking to it!)

The warehouse crew was once again going to the warehouse. Surprise surprise! Josh made the mistake of calling them the Grandma Crew. You can imagine the reception that name got. Joanne, Nicole, Margaret, Angie, and Terri were not happy. He of course was referring to the team that went out to visit the grandma from the dump NOT a reflection of their age. So we changed it to Team G-ma instead.

The planting crew spent the day at the school. While there they saw several of the kids from the orphanage during their break time. Several girls were still wearing the make up and tiaras they got the day before. Jim K. Lori, Steve, Preston, Sarah, Lori, Katelyn, And Chrys made up the planting team today.

Team Mel – Stayed up at the mission house today for a little RnR. Sam and Jessica weren´t quite up to full strength today.

Team Construction – Alicia, Josh, Jim D, Rick, Jay, Ken, Thomas, Alexa went back up to work on the hospital. The Tomexakens (Thom, Alexa, and Ken) were happy to be together once again! The work site at the hospital is constantly changing. You can hardly recognize it from one day to the next. Today was no difference. We spent quite a bit of time today working with the rebar on a load bearing wall at the center of the hospital. We had created a large wooden frame deep inside the base and built a rebar grid system that will eventually be covered with cement. On top of the grid system we attached over forty huge pieces of rebar – some stretching almost 15 feet high. Partway through attaching the bars the whole thing began to shift to the left. The guys working with us thought it would stand on its own but apparently they had miscalculated. After several attempts to upright it. We worked on strengthening the frame work and then add two sets of rebar the whole length of the fram to hold it straight. Next we disconnected and reconnected the rebar lengths to the center braces. We were just about to finish connecting the final pieces when the center braces came apart from the frame and whole thing slammed down to the ground. A look of amazement was on everyone´s face. God certainly was watching that no one was standing where it fell. It was also a good time to break for lunch. When we returned, they had figured out the problem and a couple of guys worked during lunch to set it back up. This time they put five or six diagonal braces through out the system. (Just like Jay had suggested earlier - BTW) We worked until around three.

Team G-ma, the planting crew and most of the construction crew took the rest of the afternoon either at the orphanage for some final play time with the kids or went down to relax by the pool.

After a fantastic dinner by Salvador and crew – they went all out and created a selection of Guatemalan delights complete with several traditional Guatemalan deserts. During dinner, we all got involved in a little game that started at the construction site called The Land of NO. You´ll have to ask a team member how to play! We were treated to Angie´s turn at devotions after dinner. Rather than a traditional style of devotions, she went around the group and spoke to each team member and told how they inspired her during the trip. Everyone was inspired to see how they look from another point of view.

On a side construction note, we walked up to the mission house around 930 and they were still working on concrete and may continue into the night including Giovani (our driver for most of the week) They really want to get things going here with the hospital. I am so proud that we were able to be a help in this project here. Carlos spoke to us the other night and informed us that we were the first group to actually come through with the donation we pledged. Quite an honor I think!

Off to showers and packing for our trip home.

Ken

Day Six (January 21)

Greetings again from the Tarantula Room here in beautiful Guatemala.

Day six began with – wait for it – MORE CONSTRUCTION. Chrys lead a small group in some yoga over on the patio. Still don´t know how they can bend like that! Jim D and Terri joined her.

Once again we did a shuffle of team members and went off to our various mission sites. Josh led the construction crew down at the hospital. The crew consisted of Alicia, Steve, Jay, Nicole, Rick, Preston, Thom, and Sam. No more digging in the foundations but they did get to play with Rebar!

Joanne and her group went back down to the Warehouse and sorted medicines checking expiration dates, etc. She was joined by Sarah, Terri, Chrys, Mel and Alexis. Afterwards they went to play with the babies in the nutrition center. They played until lunch but were told not to come back anymore during this afternoon or evening. Seems there is a virus going around with some of the babies so they didn´t want anyone else inside for a while. Goods News however, the young Mayan boy has gone back to his village but will be coming back in a few days for a check up.

Jim K (aka JK1) was the driving force back at the Mission house planting team. He was joined by Angie, Lori, Jessica, Katelyn, Margaret, Jim D., and myself. We were greeted once again by a LARGE pile of palms waiting at the mission house for us. Planting went pretty smoothly (No rolling any trees down the side of the mountain this time – Jim). Almost thirty more plants were planted today around the Mission House. It is starting to look like we are in the jungle up here!

After lunch, SOME of us got a little free time. Turns out they ran out of stuff to pack in the warehouse and we´ve filled all the holes they´ve dug in the rock here to plant the rest of the plants. So we shifted the crews AGAIN and some of the die-hards (Jim D. and Lori) went back to the construction site joined by a few of the planting crew while the rest took a needed break at the mission house. Well, some people rested. Rick, Mel and I zipped up to the orphanage and asked Alex (the guy who runs the orphanage) if we could take the (our)kids down to the pool for a swim. He wasn´t there but he called and we got permission to go as long as they had their homework done. SO we said we´d be back in an hour to get them once they were done. Very soon Marilis, Erika, Jorge, Victor AND Maria, Brigido, Margaro, and Julio were splashing around in the pool.

Ken

Today, Thursday, we had some free time in the afternoon because the planting team didn´t have any more holes to put the trees in, and the warehouse team had finished their work there for the day. The Molinas kids had been asking us if we could take them to the pool WHENEVER we saw them. Today was their day! The Ceta kids came too and fun times began! All eight kids had a blast playing with the Ken Johnson and Trenary family, and Sarah and Jessica. Lucas´ son from the construction site, Jorge, joined in the fun too. The group played volleyball in the pool, a little soccer outside of the pool, and jumped from hot tub to cold pool often.

Oscar, one of the mission workers treated the kids to some frozen coconuts poolside with straws inserted in the tops. These coconuts were soon split with machetes and eaten in a frenzy, especially by Victor. He was covered in coconut! They also enjoyed some snack bars and jerky. The only near casualties of the afternoon were Jorge thinking a preservative packet from the jerky was wrapped candy, and Victor downing a drink packet of Crystal Light without the drink. Kenny and Rick´s shoulders were usually found with a kid on them.

When pool time was over, we headed up to the orphanage to join the rest of our team members. The whole team split up and played various sports and games, painted fingernails in a makeshift salon, and colored and made paper airplanes. Fun was definitely had by all! Then came PIZZA PIZZA. The kids were really looking forward to it and SO excited to see its arrival. Pizzas and Pepsi disappeared in an instant. Our last treat at the orphanage was a performance by a group of the kids. They danced and sang five spirited songs for us to multiple standing ovations.

A quick stop through town for ice cream and sodas, and then it was time for the long awaited hot tub devotion night. Sam was feeling ill so I stayed at the mission house…...

Love from Guatemala,

Mel

Day Five (January 20)

Hola from the beautiful mountains of Guatemala! Weather is HOT! We had three crews working in the morning.

The first crew was the construction crew made up of Angie, Alexis, JimD., Sam, Rick, Steve, Chrys, Ken, Thom, and Sarah were at the hospital worksite. They had very hard and heavy duty work and brute strength was needed. The crew was down in a pit moving piles of dirt, rock and gravel. They also dug several trenches and worked with the rebar for the columns.

Another crew made up of Jim K., Katelyn, Josh, Nicole, Margaret, Preston, and Mel did landscaping or planting as they call it here. They had to plant trees on the side of the mountain between the tank house and the orphanage and it was very, very steep indeed. So far over 50 trees have been planted with many more to go.

The third crew, Joanne, Lori, Terry, Jessica, and Alisha (a young lady done here for a seven month mission), worked in the warehouse. They packed 110 bags with 3 ring binders, scissors, folders, booklets of graph paper, and notebook paper. The Guatemalan Public Schools are currently on Summer Break and will be going back to school on the 29^th. Packing these bags will allow 110 students in a small remote village the opportunity to go to school. The students are not allowed to go to school unless they have all their supplies. Two teachers in the group were very excited about this packing as they will be distributed at a village, El Modesto, near Zacapa. They were very excited to get done early and go to the Nutrition Center and rock the babies to sleep. They found that the Mayan boy they met earlier in the week was able to go home to his family and will just need to come back for check ups. They were pleasantly surprised to see that some of the other children that touched there hearts in the short time we have been here had their families there for a visit. (Dale, Lori says to watch out because she and Jessica have each felt their heart strings being pulled by two little boys, Carlo Alexandra and Horsio.)

In the afternoon we traveled to El Modelo, a little village in the desert. The village is made up of many makeshift homes, adobe homes and some homes constructed of cinderblock, such as the homes built by the team last year. There we distributed over 300 bags of rice and beans. The highlight of our time was playing with the children and giving gifts and candy. We stopped at a house in the neighborhood to check on a 20 year old mentally and physically challenged girl, named Alba, in the neighborhood who Joanne, our team coordinator, cares for. We found this girl ill and a baby there with no one care for him. We found the mother for the baby and brought her back to the house to care for him. Alba was given loving attention by Preston and Josh. Then Angie and Melanie bath her and changed her into clothes that better suited the weather. While attending to Alba a boy living few doors down came to ask for help for his mother. We reviewed her medicine, and prayed over her. The team then went to visit the homes that they constructed last year. It was a grand reunion. On the wall of the first home hung pictures of the team from Soul Discovery that built the home because the mother prays for the team daily. The mother next door planted flowers and had added a nice little pathway.

With empty bags of candy and hearts full of love for the people we headed back to our compound. We truly felt like we were the hand and feet of God doing both work and sharing ourselves with those with the least. We were truly blessed.

- Terri and Preston Frallic

On a side note here in Guatemala – we have had more ¨issues¨ with little friends this year than I can remember in past years. The room that Mel and Rick are living in is now called the Jungle Room. They have killed, from last count, at least four scorpions and more spiders than we can count. There is a skunk living somewhere on the guys side of the mission house. No one has really ever seen him, though Alicia does swear she saw a small black critter running by one night, but we have certainly smelled his presence.

I honestly believe that Angie is becoming an insect magnet! If there is one anywhere nearby, it´ll find a way to either land on her or walk directly at her. We have also started a new contest. We call it connect the dots. The goal is to take the bug bites on your legs and see if you can connect the dots to make a picture. Margaret swears there is a cross on her leg. Josh and Thom are bringing up second place for the most bite marks. Lori´s legs are so bad we had to make a new category for her. She refuses to let anyone take a picture of her legs but I can honestly say that I am OK with that! The other day we commented on how white her socks were. Unfortunately she wasn´t wearing any socks! Just bandages! OOOOOPS!

Nicole awoke on day two to a lovely little tarantula lieing in her bed. Dead of course but now each night she goes through her little routine to make sure there are no relatives of his. And speaking of tarantulas – Lori and I came across one that was a good three inches across in the room with the computer. We have now dubbed it the tarantula room! More critter chat should be forth coming!

-Ken

Day Four (January 19)

Hi all, from Guatemala… Well … How to put into words our experience today!! It all began yesterday when we were at the Dump site to feed the people of the village there. The elderly lady that our team has seen every year at the dump. The lady that we were all amazed at as she broke glass to sell to support her family, was there again. Only, this time, she was not the same. Carlos´s brother came to gather our team as we were finishing up at the feeding center. This elderly woman, known as Juana, sat on a concrete block, and appeared to be almost lifeless. The spirit of the lady that we had all witnessed the year before did not seem to be present any longer. As we remembered her as she was, we became saddened and knew something was wrong. Sue and Sal began to question her, with little response, they were able to figure out that she was very ill. As she sat there with one small child clinging to her as if she could not let go, we all listened and watched to see what we could do to help. Preston, who has a medical background, looked at the medicine that she had been given by another doctor, and he believed that it may be what some of the problem was. So, at that point, the team convinced her to let them take her home with the children by her side. Well, what Sal and Sue saw when they arrived at the home, was beyond what they could describe so we knew we needed to step in and help. A team of us was formed for a true mission from God. Our team consisted of myself (Angie), Nicole, Terry, Margaret and Joanne.

We began our day by gathering supplies at the mission´s warehouse. We gathered canned foods, medicine, shoes, soap and plastic containers. We boxed all supplies and headed to do God´s work. Our first stop was the dump site where we knew the family usually could be found. The grandmother, whom is also a great-grandmother, Juana, was asked not to leave her home and rest for the day, but sure enough, the grandchildren found their way to their ¨home away from home¨ to collect food and supplies for the day. We were able to convince the three children to come with us. We loaded their wheel cart in the van, and then we proceeded to their home. As we drove, the children gave Sue the directions as they pointed at each cross road to help us find the way. Once we arrived, our mission at hand began to unfold.

We started by going to the door of the home and introducing ourselves and asking permission to help. As we all entered, we saw living conditions that are hard to describe on this blog, although we have pictures to share when we return. Then, once given the ok, we began to unload the supplies and begin the work at hand. Nicole began with a beautiful prayer that was interpreted by Sue. She thanked the family for allowing us to come into their home. She praised God for the opportunity to do so. She also thanked God for the health and beauty of the children, all twelve of them, that lived in the home. She made certain to mention that she could see God´s work in the strength of the 87 year old grandmother, who is still able to care for the twelve grandchildren that lived in her home. After the prayer, Sue made certain to say that our team was there to do God´s work, and to make certain that she was comfortable with us doing just that. Juana seemed grateful and in full support so the work began. We all moved about the small room to decide who would take on which role. It was almost as if we had practiced our role for the day. Almost as if we have done this a thousand times.

We had forgotten to bring towels so Nicole took her undershirt off and tore it in half. This gave Terry and I rags to bathe the children. Then Nicole began to play with the children by blowing bubbles and coloring with them and showing much love and appreciation for each and every one. As she continued to do this, Terry and I set up our spot in a small outside area that had a sink and water. We began to bathe the children one child at a time. Although they were not too happy as they felt the frigid water meet their skin, they were thankful when the job was complete. After bathing and drying each child, we helped them into new outfits. The outfits were purchased by the mission the night before, and selected by Joanne and Sue. They were each beautifully coordinated from clothing to shoes. After this was completed, the next station was Margaret. She was know as the ¨Salon¨. Each child´s hair was brushed and styled with a matching bow, barrette, or hair tie. Smiles were abounding!!! Laughter filled the air as each child felt a newly gained pride in themselves. Terry and I were able to bath all the children with the exception of the oldest grandson who was 7, and very shy. We gave the clothing for him to his grandmother but did not expect what happened next. While we were handing out sunglasses, fun toys, and candy, the oldest grandson quietly went into the kitchen area, closed the door, and bathed himself. He was actually one of the most covered in soil, and when he came out to show us, he was shinning like a new penny. He was so proud to be clean and in his new outfit and shoes. We all told him how handsome he was and his smile lit up the room.

We finished up by giving the children medicine, since several had colds and coughs. Nicole and Sue explained what to do with the medicine as I gave each child what they needed. They each seemed to know that we were taking care of them, and took the medicine without hesitation or delay. They knew God was working thru us each and every one, to make sure they were safe and healthy. It was truly one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had in my lifetime. I know everyone on our team today shared the same feeling. Truly, to wash the feet of each of those children was one of the greatest gifts that God has ever given to me.

Signing off… Angie Gillis Team Guatemala

First day Construction - Josh, Jay, Jim D., Sam, Rick, Steve, Preston, Mel, Sarah, Lori, and Alicia
Planting – Jim K. Jessica, Chrys, Katelyn, Ken Thom and Alexis

DayThree (January 18) - Tour Day

Day three with us being able to sleep in! Breakfast was at 8 instead of our usual 7. Carlos Vargas is still in Chicago on a business trip so we were greeted by his younger brother, Sal. He welcomed us once again to Hope of Life and we were introduced to Lourdes, the woman who is basically Carlos' right hand. We also met Henry and Jorge who work for the ministry and were going to be giving us the tour with Sal's help. Henry usually gives the tour to the Spanish speaking groups that come in so he was going to practice giving it to an English speaking group with a translator (Jorge).

First stop was the senior center. I've heard the story of how Carlos began the Hope of Life ministry but it's still amazing to hear it. The short version is he was living here in Llano Verde and was basically bed ridden with gout. One day an old man came by asking for help. Carlos promised God that if God would heal him, he would dedicate his life to helping those less fortunate in Guatemala. Long story short (too late) he has built the senior center, nutrition center, orphanage, school, and all the rest of Hope of Life ministries and he's still going with the children's hospital.

While at the senior center, we met some of the residents. For those who have been here before, the bird lady still has her bird but it is in a new cage. There have been 3 different couples now that have been married at the home. And we met the huggy guy! No one was safe near him. Mel and Chrys were some of the first to be caught in his clutches. Soon Katelyn, Angie, Alexis, and the rest were met with wide open arms. And I believe some wet kisses on the cheek. Even Tom wasn't safe from his grasp! (I was able to skip past him though, Bren!)

Then we walked over to the nutrition center to visit with the babies. Sal was very informative by giving us some of the stories these babies have gone through in their short lives. Rex (Angie's buddy) being buried alive and another little girl who was found at the dump covered with ants and being chewed on by the dogs. It was enough to make anyone tear up!

Next stop was the main office where we ran into our old friend (and Cody's best friend in the world) Zulema. We were also introduced to ALL of the people who work in the office and got the low down of what each person does. Afterwords we walked over to the bodega to look at the warehouses and on the way we were met with a bloodcurdling scream. (It's okay though - just a bug landing on Angie.) We also got to see the new water purification plant in one of the warehouses. Now they can purify water right here on the premises.

Afterwords we saw the Tilapia ponds and greenhouses, walked through the school, visited the orphanage (for exactly 10 minutes), and the site of the new hospital where we will be spending quite a bit of time this week.

The rest of the afternoon was spent going to the dump to do a hot meal feeding and visiting a nutrition center run by some nuns. The dump is always a humbling experience seeing all those kids and families who live near the dump. Angie's favorite memory of the day was "giving hope to the children at the dump and providing food to nourish their bodies." Nicole was touched by the children at the dump "with so much love and happiness in their hearts - just seeing them smile!" Lori had a great time playing futbol Americana with some of the girls at the dump.

A grandmother at the dump was feeling very ill and we all went over to pray for her. She was close to passing out but refused to leave her grandchildren to go to the doctor's office. Terry and Margaret were very touched by this grandmother. Preston came to the rescue with his knowledge of medicines and decided what she was currently taking might have been to blame. After we left the dump, Sal and Zulema went with the grandmother back to her house. While there, they found out that she had 2 daughters living with her (one with a husband) and several more grandchildren living in the shack that they call a house. There was a total of 12 people living in there. Tomorrow several of us will be going out to help that family get new clothes and shoes.

A new experience was the nutrition center run by the nuns. They had several kids there that were suffering from malnutrition. Many favorite memories from today came from that visit. There was one little boy who couldn't walk (I can't remember the exact reason) with Alicia talking to him quietly and stroking the little boys hair. Jim K said, "it was the purest form of agape love." Sam getting a little baby to smile when nobody else could, Josh and his new buddy Hugo had a great time playing and drinking his bottle. Jim D found a soul mate with a little boy named Marco. I didn't think he was going to let Jim leave without him. Chrys feeding that little girl in the rocking chair. And everyone was touched by the little girl who couldn't walk but just scooted along on the floor holding another little boy's hand.

After a late lunch we returned to the senior center to sing for the residents. Jessie and Sarah loved singing for the old folks, especially when they sang along with us. Steve also enjoyed praising the Lord with the seniors. He had the great idea of us holding hands and forming a circle around the seniors to sing the Lord's prayer. Several team members went in to sing to one of the residents who could not get out of bed. Another favorite moment was the little pastor who works at the home. He brought out a hymnal and requested a song, which Mel played wonderfully on her guitar and he sang - first in Spanish and then in English. The evening ended with a fantastic devotion by Rick.

- Ken

Day Two (January 17)

The travel weariness is beginning to wear off and we are all beginning to acclimate ourselves to our new (for some of us) surroundings. God is good all the time.

I'm proud to announce that we now have a Team Guatemala choir, which performed this morning at Pata Galana and again this evening in Llano Verde. Contact me if you're interested in booking information. Highlights of the service (that I could understand) were Preston giving his inspiring testimony and Steve sharing a good teaching.

After an amazing lunch (all of the meals have fresh fruit), we split into two groups and went to the orphanage and the nutrition center. The Trenarys were drawn to the orphanage. Right after we got off the bus, Ericka, on of the orphans, screamed from her window and ran out to hug her Ricardo.

Shortly after our arrival, I saw Chrys's hat running around on one of the orphans. Ericka then dragged me to the snake slide. After two times down laughing and nearly falling off, I decided I'd stop with just a skinned elbow. Sam, Jim D, Steve, and others played basketball and soccer with the orphans. Margaret followed Sergio around and around the orphanage grounds. Josh met his family's sponsor child, Sandra-ita.

The second team from the Nutrition Center arrived after about an hour. Angie quickly set up shop and turned the niñas into regal princesses with dazzling rings and tiaras. Nicole carried on the theme by coloring with the orphans in princess coloring books. It was difficult to leave the kids even knowing we'd return soon. Ken was the last one on the bus with orphans trailing behind him.

The Nutrition Center group had stories to report about their visit. Jim K did "magic tricks" with all the kids. Angie brought a whole wardrobe for her niño, Rex. They immediately put it on him and he was swimming in them. Katelyn had a "crappy" morning with baby diapers. The baby she was holding left a spillover present on her elbow.

The evening church service was a very emotional one. The music was energetic, the kids danced up by the stage, and a newborn was dedicated. Near the closing, a mother came up to ask for healing of her young son with a brain tumor. The faith of the mother was inspiring.

We walked the streets of Llano Verde after the service. Sarah, Angie and I sat on some steps while the team went in a store to get snacks. A motorcycle scooter rode by and gave the gas right in front of us, and the smoke almost blew us away.

Our day ended with some bakery snacks coming back to the mission house with us. While we were enjoying them, a skunk decided to spray right outside our open window......

We're all anxious to start working. We wish we could be everywhere at once, playing with the orphans, holding the babies at the Nutrition Center, working on the hospital, etc. One day at a time, sweet Jesus.

- Melany

Day One (January 16) - Travel day

Half the team headed out of Salisbury at 1:30am to meet the other half of the team at BWI. Ken drove and Lori was the navigator. Jay and Katelyn followed in the pickup truck with the bags. Had a slight delay getting out of BWI but all went smoothly to Miami (except the landing) and eventually into Guatemala City. We even had a few people (Mel/Rick, Lori/Jess and Tom) get moved up to first class! We waited for a while for two young ladies, Alexis and Alicia, from Tom's church who are going down to Esperanza de Vida to be full time missionaries for seven months to work with the locals and teams that come down. One of the girls, Alexis, speaks fluent Spanish, which will be a tremendous blessing to the entire team.

We grabbed Pollo Campero (Guatemalan KFC) on our way out of the City. We arrived at the mission before dark, unpacked, and had a great dinner (yes, Mom, Katelyn ate her veggies!). Afterwards, Margaret led a quick devotion and prayer then we headed back to the mission house.

We started sorting all of the medical supplies and the sheer volume of how much we brought down was realized. We sorted and piled three tables high with medicine. We had Preston and Terry Frallic to thank for much of that. Preston works at Nanticoke Hospital and arranged for literally thousands of dollars worth of medical supplies to be purchased or donated. There was a whole other table with candy and toys, but the quantity of medical supplies was mind blowing when you think of all the good it will do at this mission and in this region. Just goes to show that God was working to bless the people of Guatemala through our trip long before we stepped off the plane.

We had three scorpion incidents but Rick and Steve made quick work of them. They smashed them flat. Everyone turned in early after a long day of travel.

- Josh

Home

The team is home, exhausted, but ready to share their week with you. For the next week, we will finally be posting their blogs, one day at a time so you can follow along. Also, there will be a link on the right to the new Team Guatemala photo album site. It is still in the beginning stages but will gradually be updated, captioned, and added to by current and former team members. Please visit to see our history with Hope of Life and relive some memories!

Update

Still no internet service. The boat trip for tomorrow is cancelled. They were having a pizza party at the orphanage tonight. Also, please pray for the Guatemalans. There was another earthquake today on the Guatemalan/Mexican border. I haven't heard anything else but I'm sure they are scared.

The team has been divided into 3 groups because it is so large. One group is working on the hospital, one group has been planting palm trees all over the mission, and one group has been working in the warehouse.

Thank you for your prayers over this team! They are being felt and are much appreciated I'm sure! They are blogging everyday that they are there even though the internet is down. Either when they get service or when they get home (whichever happens first), they will post the blogs so you still will have a day by day account of what is going on.

Team is well

The team still does not have internet access so they called this evening. They are concerned that you get an update. This morning there was an earthquake in Guatemala near the El Salvador border. The news reports that they have not found anyone with injuries from the earthquake. It also is not near Hope of Life at all. The team wants you all to know they are healthy and safe tonight. Please continue prayers for safety and open hearts for God's work to be done in many lives during this trip!

All is okay

I did get a call this afternoon from the team. They are safe and everyone is having fun. As of now, they have blogs written and ready to post on here. Unfortunately, they do not have internet access right now. So you're stuck with me :-) It was good to hear that everything is going well so far. Tomorrow they start working on the hospital. Please pray for safety and health of the team members. They will work with block and rebar, which can cause cuts and scrapes and pulled muscles. They are working in the hot sun. I know that many of the members will want to push hard as they are ready to work. If I get more news before they post, I will pass it along!

They're Safe!

I just realized that some of you may be hanging in wait. The team did land safely and everyone made it through customs uneventfully. I haven't heard anything since then so from this point on, we'll be waiting to hear from the team members on this blog. Please keep them in your prayers this week!

One down, one to go

Just got off the phone with Ken. The team landed safely in Miami. They were a half hour late so only had time to use the bathroom and board their next flight. Their new gate was literally right beside the gate they came off of though. God is definitely with them so far! Please keep praying for safe travels!!

Only days to go

Wanted to give you the faces and names of this year's team members. The team leaves THIS Saturday. It has come quickly! Please pray for travel safety, good health, open hearts, and opportunities to share God's love. And now, here are the names and faces you can be praying for this week as they prepare to go and next week while they are there.

Nicole Osborne ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Angie Gillis

Jim Donohoe ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Ken Johnson

Jim Keitt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Jay Bilbrough

Margaret Swade ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Chrys Egan

Katelyn Hoge ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Josh Taylor

Preston and Terry Frallic

Steve and Sarah Adkins

Lori and Jessica Trotter

Rick, Sam and Melany Trenary

It has been a pleasure to help prepare this team for their upcoming trip. I know that God will bless them immensely.