Friday morning we got up with our normal "ready-to-go" attitudes! We knew we were doing some pretty cool things today! We lazed around at breakfast, took our time in the hammocks and drinking coffee. Around 9, we headed off to a village road that runs through the mission straight into town. It's the road that has the chicken house on it and has quite a few houses that Carlos has had built for various families. These are families that he hand picks for some reason or another from villages and brings them to HOL. He puts the father to work in the fields or warehouse or greenhouses and trains them how to support their families. Anyways, we walked the road all the way to town handing out goodies to all the kids that weren't in school at the time. We had tye died shirts, candy, bubbles, and toys. These kids got some loot! And hugs and smiles.
We got to see the foundation that our guys helped to put in on a new house (that was dedicated this past weekend by the way). They really enjoyed being part of a project that in one week would house a family! On our walk to town, we even got to see Gerber's house! :)We had some time to kill before lunch and were able to spend an hour playing at the nutrition center. We took a lot of the kids out to the porch and just held and loved on them. There were two boys hanging out in the "yard" and our boys began a game with them and played for almost the entire hour! The kids were great. What a blessing for us and them to spend some time with them.
After a quick lunch on site, we loaded the bus and headed off for two food distributions. The first distribution was at a village where we were the first team to do this distribution! (That's 2 firsts in one week!!) We gave out the bags that the girls had packed earlier in the week. The man in charge of the village began calling out names of the heads of house and the women began coming forward to get their food. It is such an amazing thing to watch this go on. It's pretty hard to describe the emotions that go along with knowing that you helped to pack the food that will feed a family for a month!
(The man on the right is the man in charge in the village)We then reloaded the bus while the man continued handing out the food, and headed for the dump in Teculutan. There were more people than I have ever seen standing in line when we arrived.
We joined another volunteer group from the city and began feeding another group of people close to 1000. It was another loaves and fishes moment. The team did great keeping the line moving and they got to see what a more organized feeding looks like (compared to Monday's feeding). The people here always look so worn out and are dirty but they are polite and grateful and the kids are so playful and fun to be with. We got to meet with Juana, the grandmother that our team helped and loved on so much last year. We saw some people sorting through the garbage. We saw hope and tears all in the same glance.
We returned to the mission and all rode up the mountain to the orphanage for the last time of the week. The boys played soccer, the girls hugged. There were photos taken (by the team members AND the orphans!). There were songs sung. There was candy eaten and gum chewed. There were gifts given. There were hugs, kisses and tears. We finally detached the team members from the kids and changed for our goodbye dinner party.
The mission threw us a party full of local cuisine, a Cuban band (during which Cody danced with his mom and then Rick stepped in and showed his son how it's done!), a video by the mission and a special presentation by the dancer group from the orphanage. They are super cute and talented. It was so much fun to see them one more time! It was a great night of testimonies, fun and team bonding (as if we hadn't spent enough time together this week! haha).
Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers this week. They were felt all week long. I can't wait to get home and share more stories of our trip with our supporters, families and friends. I think every single one of us has been impacted in a new way this week. God has worked in our hearts and used us to bless His people in Guatemala.
We joined another volunteer group from the city and began feeding another group of people close to 1000. It was another loaves and fishes moment. The team did great keeping the line moving and they got to see what a more organized feeding looks like (compared to Monday's feeding). The people here always look so worn out and are dirty but they are polite and grateful and the kids are so playful and fun to be with. We got to meet with Juana, the grandmother that our team helped and loved on so much last year. We saw some people sorting through the garbage. We saw hope and tears all in the same glance.
We returned to the mission and all rode up the mountain to the orphanage for the last time of the week. The boys played soccer, the girls hugged. There were photos taken (by the team members AND the orphans!). There were songs sung. There was candy eaten and gum chewed. There were gifts given. There were hugs, kisses and tears. We finally detached the team members from the kids and changed for our goodbye dinner party.
The mission threw us a party full of local cuisine, a Cuban band (during which Cody danced with his mom and then Rick stepped in and showed his son how it's done!), a video by the mission and a special presentation by the dancer group from the orphanage. They are super cute and talented. It was so much fun to see them one more time! It was a great night of testimonies, fun and team bonding (as if we hadn't spent enough time together this week! haha).
Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers this week. They were felt all week long. I can't wait to get home and share more stories of our trip with our supporters, families and friends. I think every single one of us has been impacted in a new way this week. God has worked in our hearts and used us to bless His people in Guatemala.
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