Team Guatemala Mission Work

Team Guatemala 2012 Thursday

2012-01-19T23:54:00.002-05:00

Thursday

Today started off just like any other day with a wonderful breakfast prepared by the staff at Hope of Life. The staff here really go out of their way to make you comfortable here. I guess they realize that within a few hours, we are going to be out in the fields and desert working on projects.

We split up again into three separate groups. One group, lead by Joanne went back to the warehouse to continue working on packing food bags for Friday. She was joined by Margaret, Terri, Natalie, Meghan, and Sarah. For such a small group, they packed over 200 bags by themselves before lunch.

A second group went back to work on the houses They are build in the hope of Life village. This time around Will, Aaron, and myself got to go to the construction site along with Rick and the boys from Washington State. (Kyle is actually from Alaska!) We spent the morning finishing filling out the floor to make it level and helped sift sand and gravel for future concrete making. Once again I walked away with a pocket full of rocks to bring back to my classroom. Some people never learn!

The third group went back out to the Greenhouses to work on the irrigation lines. This time we sent the "youngsters" to represent us. Zack, Sam, Foster, Amanda, Tessa, and "Big John" were digging out trenches to run pipes later.

After lunch, the Greenhouse group went back out to finish the pipelines. Will opted to go back out with them this time. I think he was afraid they were having too much fun without him. that meant Zack was able to join the group at the Warehouse.

The Construction group joined the Warehouse group since they wanted almost 800 bags filled with food supplies. we didn't make that number since they ran out of some of the food stuffs to put into the bags. We then packed the truck for the food delivery tomorrow morning to the School/Church dedication. We also started to put together some furniture. Carlos has purchased several pallets of furniture from Walmart of all places. I think that several big wigs from Walmart are coming down tomorrow to see what is going on with the stuff they sold Carlos. It is amazing the stuff people return that can't be resold so they sell it to countries like Guatemala. Aaron and i tried to put several pieces together but some were missing a few important pieces. Like table tops and such.

After dinner we went out to one of the other churches in the village. Aaron actually got to share the message he prepared for a service last year but didn't get to. It was a moving message about the prodigal son. Margaret lead devotions tonight and after telling us her story, she had each of us share something we learned or appreciated about someone in the group. It was a very moving devotions and I think it showed just how close a group of strangers can get when thrown together in the name of Christ!

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is our last full day here before making the long trip home!

Team Guatemala 2012 Wednesday

2012-01-18T23:15:00.004-05:00

Wednesday

Today we get to go into the field and do some construction. Our team raised money to pay for a large greenhouse here at Hope of Life. they are not going to be starting another one here soon but we got to work on the ones that are currently being constructed.

Will, Zac, Meghan, Tessa, Foster, Sam, Aaron, and I went down to the greenhouses to work today. We met Luis, our interpreter from Nicaraga. He speaks very good english and we learned quite a bit of spanish while working. We were to dig a trench for a water pipeline to the 10 greenhouses on the left side of the compound. The right ten already had a pipeline going to it. the digging was tough. Apparently they don't have just soil here. Most of it comes with tons of rocks in it. Aaron was voted MVP (most valuable picker) for the morning. Foster however grabbed the title in the afternoon.

The other group - Sarah, Rick, and the team from Washington went into the Village of Hope that has sprung up near the small greenhouses and the chickenhouse near the entrance to Hope of Life. This summer there were a few houses along this dirt road. Now there are houses completely up and down the road, plus a church, and more houses on the way. Carlos is also planning another set of houses in the nearby field. The construction crew got to work with the guys here to build another house. Actually it was almost finished but still need the floor to be leveled and the attached bathroom to be built. They worked hard today to get those both close to completion.

Terri, Natalie, and Joanne went to work some more at the warehouse. I'm not sure where all that stuff comes from but they just keep pulling it out of somewhere. they also were asked to start working more food bags for another food distribution.

Amanda was on our injured reserve list. Apparently something wasn't sitting right and she was completely wiped out most of the day. She is back up and going strong however tonight.

Tonight we treated the entire orphanage and nannies and some of the workers to dinner from Pollo Compero (guatemala's KFC) They LOVED it. After dinner, Terri lead us in devotions. All in all, a very tiring but satisfying day. Tomorrow - more construction and food bags!

Team Guatemala 2012 Tuesday

2012-01-18T22:57:00.003-05:00

Tuesday

Tuesday Morning we were asked to work at the warehouses again separating more clothes. I am guessing that J Crew and Madewell Jeans must not be popular in the US. Several of the women on our team were extremely happy with one of the crates. It was over half full of bathing suits. Meghan, Sarah, Tessa, Amanda, and Margaret purchased several of the suits at the extreme Guatemala discount.

We also were told that there will be a dedication for a new school/Church in a nearby village on Friday and we were going to be able to attend the dedication Ceremony to pass out food bags to the entire village. Of course, we were needed to pack those bags for the village. They needed 800 bags of food. Of course, in true Soul Discovery style, we packed up 850 bags just in case. Each bags had cans of beans, potatoes, rice, and the things called nutributter for small children to keep them from becoming malnurished. (We kinda tasted one pack - tastes like peanut butter - thanks to Will and Sam for the idea!)

In the afternoon there was more stuff to be unpacked for the warehouse. It is a totally thankless job and very tedious at times but then again that is what we are here for. To serve the people here in any way that will help. The stuff we sorted, re-taped up, cleaned up will be resold in the bodega. It always amazes me the stuff that we in the US return and then gets sold off in large parcels to places like Guatemala.

Rick and family have given me a new nickname - Mayhem - like on the Geico commercials. I'm not sure if I like it or not. They have asked me to help out with some of the driving here for our group so I get to drive a large 15 person van up and down the mountain. What a change from all the hills we have in Salisbury!

Will lead us in a great devotion about David. Aaron and Natalie once again lead us in worship songs. What a wonderful bonding time for our team!

Team Guatemala 2012 Monday

2012-01-16T22:54:00.004-05:00

Monday

After breakfast this morning, we were treated to a tour of the Mission from Carlos himself. He is such a captivating speaker. I never grow tired of the tour (even though this was my tenth time seeing it) There is always so many new a different things going on here. He showed us these huge containers that he purchases from companies in the United States of clothes that he will then give away here or sell in the bodega. We also found out how they get the school buses down here. It always amazes me to see buses with signs on the side from the US. There is one from Harford County in Maryland and the one we were riding in was from West Virgina. Apparently, they hire a guy to drive them down to Guatemala (A ten day trip). They load them up with stuff to save the shipping costs. Margaret asked if he was hiring bus drivers! ( I think Dave - her husband might have something to say about that!)

This is a current model of the St. Luke's Hospital that carlos is trying to build on the mountain.

Here is what it currently looks like. They have started working n the fifth floor. We couldn't see it during the tour or work there this week since it is in a stage where it is dangerous to have people around it but they have been working on it all week. He hopes to have it up and running in August of this year.

After the tours, we had lunch and then we were off to a feeding at the Dump. It is always a heart wrenching experience to see such poverty in person. Once you get past the smell and the extreme dirtiness of the people there, your heart just goes out to them. Especially the kids!!
Terri was happy to see that "Grandma" as we call her was still there with her many great grand kids but most importantly, that she was looking much healthier than when we saw her last time.

Here are Tessa, Terri, and Amanda at the dump.

Rick and Sarah help with the feeding at the dump. There were so many people there - it was almost heart breaking!

One little guy had a shirt there from Chincoteague Island. It always amazes me how a shirt from Maryland can travel all that way and end up in a dump in Guatemala!

After the feeding, we went back to the warehouses and got to unload ALL of those crates that Carlos had showed us earlier and had to separate them by gender. It was amazing to see all of the designer name clothing in the boxes that he was able to purchase dirt cheap. J Crew must not be selling too well in the US!

These were some VERY ugly sweaters that we found in the crates. Of course, we just had to try them on!!!

After we finished, we had some free time to relax either at the mission house or at the pool. Unfortunately, that meant that we couldn't get up to the orphanage today. Luckily, we had time to see the kids in the morning during the tour but i know that I wanted much more time to see the kids.

That's Julio being shy.

After dinner, we took a walk into the village of Llano Verde and hit the little store for some ice cream. the it was up to the mission House for devotions. Rick spoke tonight and we got to hear a testimony from Jonathon (another one of the group from Washington) he certainly has gone through quite a bit for a guy of only 19.

We are hitting bed now to be ready for whatever life throws at us tomorrow. Hopefully we will be able to continue writing about our trip.

Team Guatemala 2012 Sunday

2012-01-16T22:44:00.004-05:00

Greetings from Guatemala. We have all reached Hope of Life in good health. (Except for our friend Kevin - Long story there - I'll let him add the details but due to some poor timing he wasn't able to join us this year.)

Our first full day was actually more of a day of rest. And I must say that after the airplane trip and the LONG bus ride through Guatemala, we really needed it. We had breakfast at 8 and then went to the local church for service. Aaron was once again ready to lead if needed but Pastor Carlos delivered an interesting sermon on "listening". Jon (one of the group with our friend Margaret from Washington) gave a brief testimony as well. After lunch, we were supposed to go on a tour for the mission but Carlos couldn't do it then. One of the babies they were bringing in to the nutrition center that morning didn't survive the trip. It was a pretty sad atmosphere in the nutrition center that day. So instead we headed up to the orphanage for some free time with the kids.

After dinner, we all retreated to bed early since everyone was still pretty wiped from the day before.

They've arrived!

2012-01-14T22:32:00.002-05:00

Team Guatemala 2012 is officially in the field (figuratively of course - they're technically on a mountain...). After a little bit of a rough start (sadly they are one team member down due to a first-time situation), the team had routine safe flights. All luggage arrived (praise God!). They are safe on the Hope of Life mountain.

Please pray this week for the health of the team. It is very difficult to be down there and have stomach issues. Trust me! Please pray that the Holy Spirit would move in the hearts of all the team members as well as the people they encounter. Pray that they recognize God opportunities.

Team - we are praying for you here!! You're going to have an amazing week.

Less than a week to go...

2012-01-08T15:04:00.006-05:00

Introducing Team Guatemala 2012:

Sarah Adkins (shown here is Guatemala Jan 2010)

Our newlyweds, Aaron and Natalie Flynn (shown here in Guatemala in January 2011)

Terry Frallic (please pray for her husband Preston who has surgery the day before the team departs for the trip)

Amanda Howard (this is her first mission trip!)

Ken Johnson (team leader)

Tessa Johnson (seen here in Guatemala July 2010)

Meghan McNeil (this is Meghan's first trip)

Rick Trenary (unknowingly helping Ken lead)

Sam Trenary (recently dislocated his knee and wearing a brace - pray for healing)

Zach Trenary (seen here is Guatemala January 2011)

Not pictured: Wil Corder (Rick's son-in-law and his first trip), Kevin Dennis (his first mission trip and first trip out of the country) and Foster Vernon (this is his second trip)

This team was responsible for raising $1500 individually and our church gave $3000 towards the cost of a large greenhouse, which the team will hopefully be working on while they are there. They will be in Guatemala January 14-21, 2012.

Please pray for safe travels, health and God's blessing.

Friday

2011-01-31T21:01:00.005-05:00

I'm over a week late in posting this but I don't want to forget!

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.

Thursday

2011-01-21T19:00:00.003-05:00

Thursday was a busy day! Lots of projects going on around here on site. The team was once again split into girls and guys (by choice of most of the guys, mostly the younger more energetic ones!). The girls went back to the hospital to continue priming/painting. We finished the first coat on the second floor and, when we asked if we should go to the third floor, we were told to go back over it and put the second coat. Okay! You got it! We had a great time yesterday. We weren’t quite as productive as there was a lot more socializing involved, singing, some dancing and just being goofy. Natalie and Brenna were harmonizing while waiting for Giovanni to get more paint. They would also burst into song after hearing certain phrases that would remind them of songs. Angelica was one productive chica! Angel and Angel were a great mix of stories, laughter and productivity. There were serious talks and silly talks. It was a great time!

The boys spent the morning and a few hours after lunch helping the construction crew lay the foundation for a house that will be built next week. They unloaded a truck of concrete blocks. They mixed concrete. They moved the blocks AGAIN. They made rebar. They said that they really did have a good time and it was easier than the rocks! Haha! I think they would say almost anything was easier than the rocks! The guys have bonded really well. The Vernon boys are honorary Trenary boys on this trip. The five of them have bonded and are always together! The bonding is one of the things that I love about being on these trips. You come down here with a group of people that you barely know and leave as a family with memories and inside jokes.

The afternoon WIPED. US. OUT. We brought the entire orphanage to the pool. We had such a great time. It was crazy keeping track of the kids but they had a blast. Aaron describes the pool party as chaotic! Angel A’s observation is that most of them don’t have bathing suits and she found it interesting that they just swim in their clothes. A couple of the girls were swimming in jeans! They love the hot tub, too! They swim and wrestle in it just like it’s a regular pool. A lot of them also got coffee or were eating the creamer. It did get a little crazy right before dinner but we made it to dinner. We had a pizza party for them – Domino’s pizza. We sat them all down, handed out plates and the team members helped pass out pizza, two slices per child. They also handed out cups and poured Pepsi for the kids. Most of the kids were putting ketchup or green hot sauce on their pizza. They LOVE it!! We all ate the pizza (or peanut butter sandwiches) as well and I have to tell you. Most of us thought it tasted just like the Domino’s we know in the States! We had such a great time with all the kids. It was so fun to treat them in a way that they don’t often get.

Today we are doing some food and hot meal distributions and then free time. It will be an emotional and memorable last day. Please continue to pray for good health, especially as we are nearing travel day. No one wants to be sick and travel! Also that we would have chances today to share God’s love through our actions and smiles and words.

Wednesday

2011-01-20T07:03:00.002-05:00

Due to the heat from the previous day's work, when you mention "the greenhouses", pretty much our whole team groans inside (a few maybe actually groan...) so when I was told I had to split the team between the greenhouses and painting at the hospital, I knew I was going to get a little "feedback" from the team. They only wanted 4-5 people on the painting so, although I dreaded doing it, it was really just easier to send the girls to paint and boys to the rocks. It was only going to be the morning so I knew the boys could do it because they weren't going back after lunch, which is when it was REALLY bad, and they were going to be outside in an open field so although the sun was out, they weren't in the hotbox covered greenhouse. I told them the plans, boys to rocks, girls to paint and I had the following responses: Graham - "Okay. I just need to change my shoes." Cody - "Any girl want to switch?" Marshall - "I'm feeling a little feminine today." They were troopers and tore through some rocks. And although they were hot, they admitted it was not THAT bad. Not that they want to go back today though... :)

The girls were taken to the hospital. The bottom two-three floors have wallboard in place to create rooms while the top floor is at a standstill until another donor steps forward. We gave some money but not enough to finish an entire floor so the crew is currently working on two houses nearby. We actually painted primer and got a lot accomplished! We got the entire main area painted, the hallway and 3 rooms inside. The only trouble was the high part. We only had one extension pole. We finally started to use ladders near the end of our work time but didn't get to finish the high stuff. When we walked down the ramp to load the bus, there sat 3 more extensions (after they told us there were no more). hahaha Welcome to Guatemala!

At lunch, we were fed the team's favorite meal (ever, says some of the return members). It's a local dish - a HUGE tortilla shell (looks grilled maybe??) and either steak or chicken to put in it and then there's a cabbage mixture and homemade salsa. They also had a mixed veggie dish salad with avocado.

After lunch, we received new jobs. The girls were going to bag food (lentils from USAid with 3 cans of random soups) while the boys were digging the trenches for a foundation for a new house that will be built next week. They definitely had the hard labor jobs! At least there was some shade at this job site. To reward them for doing the hard work, we let them go first in line for dinner and the girls also took over the dish washing. There is a group of men that have been in the dishwashing crew for almost every meal! Rick and Steve are ALWAYS there and have been joined by any combination of Zach, Cody, Sam, Jim, Angel A, Foster and Graham.

Last night's devotions were great with Rick leading us through a great prayer and talking about letting God write our life stories.

Please continue to pray for good health, always seems to be some mild stomach issues... Today we are painting, bringing all the orphans down for a pool party and having a pizza party with them. Praising God for another great day in Guatemala!

Tuesday

2011-01-19T07:26:00.002-05:00

I'll be honest. Yesterday was tough. We spent the day picking up rocks and leveling tough ground. It wasn't the work that was tough. In the morning, as the sun rose high in the sky, we were a team on a mission. We were loading bags and buckets and a wheelbarrow with rocks (not dirt clumps!) and created piles outside of the greenhouses. (These are the greenhouses that are going to supply the peppers and other veggies to the Central American Walmart chain.) Sidenote - they took out a loan to build the first four greenhouses from an American business man. He is not charging them interest and they only have to pay him back as they find sponsors for the project. I think that kind of faith is awesome, to KNOW that God is going to provide the money and to go ahead with the project. Some would call it crazy, why go into debt? But for some reason, at this mission, it doesn't seem crazy. It's faith.

Anyways, in the morning, we were good. Working hard. Moving rocks. Leveling dirt. We went to lunch (which was delicious as always). Once we returned to the work site after lunch, it was a little bit of a different story. To quote Aaron, "We took a walk on the sun." It was easily 95 outside and then even hotter in the greenhouses (because they are made to retain the heat afterall). We had to take a break and sit in the shade after (literally) 10 minutes. Some of us were getting dizzy, got headaches, just couldn't get our bodies to move. We couldn't get our core temperatures down (Thanks for the verbage, Graham!). Somehow, I think with a miracle (and mandatory team breaks every 20 minutes or so), we completed the project. I'll be honest, a few of us are struggling with a little bit of stomach unrest this morning and I really believe that it's the heat. It was a tough day.

But, after showers, some pool time, some orphanage time, and ice cream after dinner (!!!), we had a great devotion with Natalie talking about making your whole life an act of worship. Even moving rocks.

Please pray for health today. We are painting the wallboard in the hospital and are excited to be on the site! Thank you so much for your prayers so far. They are felt and appreciated!

Monday

2011-01-18T06:32:00.002-05:00

Good morning! (My clock got reset to EST so I'm up an hour too early...) Yesterday was an amazing day and a pretty monumental day for the village of El Modelo and we got to be a part of it! You may remember El Modelo as being the village where we have built a church (Jan 2008) and sponsored 4 homes (Jan 2009). The village continues to grow. Some updates on El Modelo - when our team was here in 2009, they were trying to dig a well very close to the construction site. They went down like 500 feet (might be an exaggeration...) and couldn't find water. They tried in a different location and had success! They have plans to build a pavilion type building to do hot meal/feeding distributions. Yesterday, we participated in the very first ever feeding in El Modelo. We served chicken soup type food with carrots and potatos, rice and tortillas and juice. They each bring their plate/bowl and a cup. If they come without them, we have styrofoam plates and cups to give them so we don't turn anyone away hungry. We also handed out 2 bags of dried lentils to each mother. Each bag should make 50 meals for her family. It was a little chaotic because the villagers didn't understand the line thing. There were people cutting in line all over but let's be honest, if you were hungry, wouldn't you cut in line?? The mission had planned for about 500 children. We fed close to 1000 people yesterday. It was definitely a loaves and fishes kind of moment. We were down to the dregs of the soup and had about 20 people to go. God pulled through! We were so honored and excited to be able to be part of such a big event because we have ties to the village. In fact, we saw two of the boys that we built the houses for and they remembered us!

On the way back to the mission for lunch, we had our own adventure - the bus started making a really strange noise and wouldn't shift gears. Praise the Lord we were out on the highway and not going uphill through Zacapa. The driver was able to pull over to a nice wide clear spot on the side of the road. Yup, the bus broke down. The guys called for another bus that came and got us. While we were waiting, they had coolers of drinks for us and with all the windows open on the bus, it was comfortable. We had a great little adventure. When we finally got back to the mission, there was a large helicopter on the landing strip. There were people from Guatemalan congress here to meet with Carlos.

We also took the tour with Sal, Carlos's brother. I know that I see new things and hear new facts everytime I come. We visited some new greenhouses WAY in the back of the mountain. And today, I believe we are picking rocks out of the dirt in some HUGE greenhouses. They are working with Central American Walmart to be the provider for peppers. A lot of the newbies on the team were amazed at how many different areas the mission does. It IS pretty amazing. Devotions last night was great - Aaron led us through song worship songs and then Angel and Graham led devotions. And there was even a shooting star that crossed through the sky while Graham was reading a Bible verse. It was magical :)

Today we will be working under the hot sun. Prayers for sustainability would be appreciated! Pray we continue to stay healthy and have open hearts.

Sunday

2011-01-17T07:04:00.003-05:00

Sunday morning brought a cool breeze and many smiles as we all awoke in Guatemala! With breakfast at 8, we had a leisurly time getting ready for church only to get to breakfast and find out that church started at 10 instead of 930. haha Welcome to Guatemala!! Church was a great experience. Angel A gave her testimony on true joy found only through God. She did a great job!! Angelica helped translate the welcome part of the service. Our whole group got on stage to sing ¨How Great is our God¨ with Sam debuting his guitar skills in public. Xiomara, Christian the pastor´s wife, gave the sermon and she is such a passionate speaker. There wasn´t a translator because she speaks so fast that it would have been hard to translate!

While at breakfast, we were joking about how hungry we would be at lunch after only sitting in the service. Sure enough, stomach were growling and ready for food! They even surprised us with ice cream cones for dessert!

After lunch was free time. Most of our group was anxious to get to the orphanage! Marshall and Foster packed a few soccer balls, which helped start a rousing game. Rick and Graham were goalies - Graham was pummeled! Steve spent the game running and running and running. The kids who play soccer at the orphanage are ruthless. Aaron was also in on the game and all the boys who played were definitely sweaty when they stopped! Zach and Sam made it up to the orphanage a little later ready to take over where the others stopped except they were playing basketball with the soccer balls. Of course, the kids couldn´t let them win so they would hold the bottom of the basketball net so the balls couldn´t get through and they would hit them out the top so the boys couldn´t score any points. The girls of our group went a little more mellow with the activities. Angel A, Angel S, Angelica and Natalie were painting fingernails (and got their own painted as well). Marie, a woman from the western shore who is joining us for the week, spent much of the afternoon handing out candy and hugging on the girls. Brenna spent her afternoon loving on her kids. When she got off the bus, a lot of the orphans started chanting her name. It was cute :)

Showers were taken to rinse off sweat and dinner was inhaled by many of the team. Again, with all the fresh air and orphan playing, we were HUNGRY! We loaded the bus again and off to evening church we went! This time we attended the church in Rosario. The worship band at Rosario is the group of Cubans that play at the parties in the cabana or in town. They are so fun to listen to. Pastor Chris, from the small group from Texas, preached on discipling people not only in other countries but also in our own ¨Jerusalems¨. It was a great reminder that while we are on the missionfield now, we are also called to do the same in our own towns.

Today is an exciting day and a monumental day for the mission and personal for our team. I´m not going to share just yet what will be happening but we are dressed as Team Green and ready to go!! Please pray for safety and continued great health and open hearts today.

We´re HERE!!

2011-01-16T07:52:00.003-05:00

Just a short little blog to let everyone know we are at Hope of Life safe and sound. We had quite a long travel day yesterday. We met at the Johnson house at 4am, prayed, loaded luggage, and off we went. We made excellent time to the airport (can´t imagine why, it´s not like we hit a lot of traffic at 5am on a Saturday morning...) and were smoothly checked in by 815. Everyone made it quickly through security (no body scans needed for this group!), boarded the plane and off we went! We had a quick turn around in El Salvador and a very smooth little hop of a flight into Guatemala City, passing the volcanos on the way!

We were pretty much the only people in line at customs so we quickly and smoothly made it through, grabbed our luggage (made simpler thanks to the yellow GROUP tags that labeled them!) and found our HOL staff anxiously waiting outside the doors! We were supposed to have been the last group of the 3 arriving today (we are here with a group of students from Salisbury Univ and a group of 5 from Texas) but we were actually the 2nd group. We were still waiting for the SU group. They were supposed to arrive around 12 but got very delayed in Miami. Melany said that they sat on the plane for almost 2 hours while they were working on a mechanical function - a broken toilet... Then they got off the plane to switch planes and of course had to wait to have it fueled and all the luggage switched over. So they actually landed about 20 minutes after us!

We did a quick stop at Pollo Campero (Guatemalan KFC) and off we went. We didn´t arrive at the mission until almost 8. Had a yummy dinner (that we were pretty much too tired to fully enjoy), got our room assignments and crashed!

Today will bring church and free time on site. I know our team is really excited to go to the orphanage!! Please continue to pray for good health, open hearts and opportunities to share God´s love. More to come...

Godspeed!

2011-01-15T22:23:00.002-05:00

Hey Team!
Hope you guys made it down safe. We're praying for you all and will continue to pray that you spread the love of Christ over the next week and that you are all blessed by this experience. Everyone tell Sandra-ita and the rest of the amazing kids I miss them and I’m praying for them! Godspeed - Josh

Looking Back - February 2007

2011-01-13T16:55:00.003-05:00

Nothing emotional, just the facts.

In February 2007, 14 missionaries from Soul Discovery loaded a van headed to BWI for an 8 day excursion to Guatemala.

The people involved:
Don Arter
Lonny Arter
Mike Davis Sr.
Evan Davis
Mike Davis Jr
Allison Hackler
Mick Haensler
Ken Johnson
Steven Latham
Nancy Mayonado
Brenna Shevlin
Margaret Swade
Rick Trenary
Lori Trotter

Cost of trip: $1500
Project: Wing (2 rooms) on the orphanage at Hope of Life, $4000
Dates of the trip: Feb 17-24, 2007

In addition to building (and dedicating) the wing at the orphanage, the team also packed and distributed over 500 boxes of food at nearby villages. They were the first team from Hope of Life to participate in a distribution at the landfill in Teculetan (about 30 minutes west of HOL). They also were the first team to distribute food in El Modelo, which would later become the site of future SD/HOL projects.

Reminiscing June 2006

2011-01-09T20:41:00.002-05:00

For memory's sake, I would like to begin documenting our past trips. I'm going to start at the beginning with the very first trip, the discovery trip that started the entire process and changed the life of our church.

People involved:
Reid Sterrett
Mary Sterrett
Maddie Sterrett
Steven Latham
Phil Harsin
Steve Adkins
Margaret Swade

Trip cost: $700 per person (basically airfare)
Dates: June __ - __ , 2006

The five day trip was spent touring the mission site, visiting a construction site to see how the process works, attending hot meal distributions, and a boat trip. They returned to Soul Discovery with glowing reports and a strong desire to act immediately. Thus, the January 2007 trip was put into place!

New trip in planning

2010-10-18T21:35:00.002-04:00

Our next trip is in the building stages. I am really excited to be working with another amazing group of people! There are quite a few new people to the team, first time mission trips, first time to Guatemala, non-Soul Discovery folks, and some old faithfuls :) God is going to do amazing work as always!!

Please be praying for the 2011 Team Guatemala - that God would be working in our hearts now, that He would have His hand on the fundraising efforts of the team members. I will update again soon.

Woking at the Mission

2010-02-18T18:35:00.004-05:00

This next video is also at the Mission. The first one is from the construction site at the new hospital. Sorry for the old school music but it is such an appropriate song for the video.

2010-02-15T21:28:00.004-05:00

Here are two other short videos that were not shown on Sunday. The first one is a little segment on the Senior Center at Hope of Life. A slight word of caution however - The Huggy Man is alive and well in Guatemala!!

This second one is probably my favorite. It takes place at the Nutrition Center and then up at the orphanage at Hope of Life.

Additional Videos

2010-02-15T17:25:00.003-05:00

As promised, I split the entire video into smaller ones that focus on certain aspects of the trip. The entire 18 minute video is kinda long for one sitting but I'll post it soon as well. This one is one that didn't get shown on Sunday. It focuses more on the people of the trip rather than the work. Brenna picked out the song and I think it fits pretty well. This one covers the Feeding at the Dump, The Catholic Nutrition Center, the trip back to El Modelo, and Team G Ma's adventures.

Intro Video for Team Guatemala 2010

2010-02-14T16:23:00.004-05:00

Today we had our "debriefing" during service. I was asked to create a video about our trip. It was requested/suggested that the video be around 5 - 10 minutes long. Of course, after searching through all the pictures and video from our trip, I ended up with a "little" video that lasted over 18 minutes. OOOOPS. But how do you squeeze a week long trip in 10 minutes?? Needless to say that most of the video that I created never was actually seen by anyone besides myself. SOOOOOO - I have broken the video into several smaller videos and will be posting them here on the blog. Here is the first one that actually did get played this morning. It is some footage of our flight and the donations that our church sent down to the mission.

Two Weeks

2010-02-08T13:20:00.002-05:00

Dear Team Guatemala 2010,

I just wanted to encourage everyone after two weeks at home. First I'd like to say that I've never been a member of a more positive and supportive team! From the moment we assembled, you each assumed your God-given roles and lavished your gifts upon everyone you came in contact with!

It's a tough climb down from that "high" mountain in Guatemala which is filled with 24/7 plus "purpose". I would like to encourage everyone wherever you are in those emotions. Back in "civilian" life, being snowed in, etc. can take its toll on everyone, especially after "more purpose than we may have EVER felt squashed into one week in Guatemala". My thoughts are this:

1. Read your Bible or other uplifting reads.
Phillipians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

2. Find a new purpose in your community (if you don't already have too many). Ideas include:

Wicomico Mentor Program: 1 hour a week (during school hours) in a county school with an at-risk kid, Henri Parker at hparker@wcboe.org...tell her I recommended you.

Big Brothers Big Sisters: anytime once a week hanging out with your little, http://www.biglittle.org/.

STARS after school programs (in most schools) always in need of volunteers for homework help: 3:30-5:30 Salisbury Middle contact-Sarah Rushing srushing@wcboe.org...tell her I recommended you.

Kidmo or Youth (Soul Discovery, Sundays 10am, Brenna or Ken, brennacjohnson@gmail.com)

Saturday soup kitchens (Grace UMC, 326 Barclay St. Salisbury) Just show up any Saturday around 10:30-11 and help serve.

God is totally incredible! LOVE YOU ALL!
Mel

Journal entry 1/20/10

2010-02-02T12:45:00.002-05:00

Team Guatemala is made up of an incredible group of people! Today I was with the planting crew in the morning. We had an easy planting day minus watering at the top of a hill, but Nicole and I conquered that mountain...and found an easier way down; we climbed UP to a walkway!

After lunch, our whole team traveled to El Modelo. On the way I saw a sign which said "Disponible." I had been singing "I am available" to myself in preparation for our next assignment. I knew it would be difficult because I had heard the stories of this village. Singing always helps me communicate with God.

Later along the journey, after seeing more signs, I realized the billboard which said "Disponible" was "Available" in English. Duh! I had been thinking how close the word looked to disposable. This realization kept me humble and was a gentle reminder that God didn't need ME to help these people....rather He was giving me the privilege to love them. What a privilege it was!

El Modelo was just as I imagined from the many pictures, but it was much vaster. The people began crowding around the bus spying the food bags on top. The pastor of the town aided us in identifying mothers of each family so we could evenly disperse the food bags. Sadly, we were told some children had been taught to lie for more food and it was hard to deny them.

Joanne, our trip leader, took Chrys, Tom, Alexis and I to see Alba, a mentally and physically challenged, young girl. We arrived at the house to find Alba maneuvering to us as quickly as she could on her knees and then her FEET! We neared the house and heard a baby crying. Entering the house, we found a baby lying on a twin bed. No one was in the house.

After holding the baby and getting him to sleep, we investigated. We deduced that the baby belonged to Alba's younger sister. The mother was finally found and returned declaring that she had gone to play cards with the boys. The floor was dirty with a knife, screwdriver and assorted trash items scattered across it. No extra diapers could be found, and the only available water was out in the Guatemalan sun. We bathed Alba with baby wipes and found some clean, cooler clothes for her to wear. The bus had been waiting for us so we left iced water bottles and a couple bags of food. We alerted the mission and the pastor of the village to the situation.

Before leaving we visited the two houses Soul Discovery had built last year. One mother had pictures of the team members on her wall along with large gold letters spelling “Jesus” painted beside them. She encouraged us sharing that she prays daily for the team who built her home.

Back at the mission, Jim closed the day with a talk on humility: "Your attitude should be that of Christ."

(Readers, please know that I do not mean to belittle the way the people of El Modelo live. Guatemala has poverty that is incomprehensible to us as Americans. This poverty can create unimaginable desperation. We must try to imagine how it feels to walk a day in their shoes....)

JK1 (a.k.a. Jim Keitt) After a week back home

2010-02-02T08:26:00.012-05:00

Like last year, this trip presented many challenges and experiences that will certainly affect my life, the lives of my fellow Team Guatemala members, and the lives of the people of Guatemala that we worked with and ministered to. I have a new respect for the characteristic of being "flexible"! In some of my correspondence with people since my return I shared with them that I believe that God appoints people to be in specific places at specific times to do His specific will. I believe that about Team Guatemala. Some of us began the week as long time friends, but some of us began it as mere aquaintances. Before long we had all become a very close "family" and I am so blessed to be part of this family. We range in age from 13 to 64, but there was no evidence of "generation gap". We all went on the trip because we were all called by God for His purpose, and even though the things we did may seem insignificant in the large scheme of things, they were nevertheless important because God sent us. This may sound like I'm tooting our horns, but I'm not. I give all praise, thanks, glory, and credit to God, and pray that through our efforts His will was accomplished.

I learned so much about the hearts of my fellow team members while there. I witnessed hard physical work and I witnessed BIG LOVING hearts! "Agape" love is perfect love. It's the kind of love that God has for us, a love that expects nothing in return, a love that is given period! If we were all honest, we would admit that we don't always offer this kind of love. How easy is it to love someone who is lovable and loves you back, but how hard is it to love someone who is unlovely or can't or won't love you back? The love that I witnessed my team giving to the people of Guatemala was definitely agape love, from Alicia comforting a young hurting boy to the "G-unit" bringing dignity and compassion to a near 90 year old ailing grandmother and a dozen or so grandchildren or to the Team Guatemala Choir led by Melany attempting to lead the residents of the Senior Home into worship (or even me entertaining a young Mayan boy with my lame "magic" tricks. . . well, he did laugh!).

Leaving was a mixed bag of emotions. We were all ready to get back to our families and loved ones, but we were sad to leave, as well. I'm already praying and looking forward to our next trip! Anyone reading this who has never been on a mission trip, I respectfully ask you to search your heart and see if God is calling you to be a part of this ministry that Soul Discovery Church offers.

Day Eight (January 23) - Travel and Reminisce Day

2010-02-01T18:09:00.004-05:00

What happens in Guatemala - Stays in Guatemala (Or does it?)

The "Land of Not" Game (Nicole - not fun, epic fail)
Gravity is stronger here because we are closer to the equator (right, Jess?)
Excavators make great carnival rides. "Six Flags over Guatemala"
To speak Spanish, just add an "o" to the end of every word, i.e. correcto (Ken)
It IS okay to paint your fingernails and wear a cover-up, even if you are a guy.
Trees WILL roll down the mountain if you let them, right Jim K? (As you wish!)
Peanut Butter!
Beware of the "huggy man"!
Nicole has a thing for old men and the sea.
Check your bed the first night or you might find a tarantula the next.
"Uno" (the card game) is called "One" in Spanish.
Devotions are always better in a hot tub.
The singing ketchup man.
Ken is always willing to help - unless a bug crawls up your shirt - right Angie?
Don't get on the bus last - you'll get a "jump seat".
The proper way to say hello in Guatemala is aloha.
The "WOW" factor
If you send an old man out for ketchup on Tuesday he may return with it by Friday.
Never give a Guatemalan child "After-bite." You may go deaf from his screaming!
If you have a bag of candy & gum & stickers, the word "alto" does not mean "stop"!
Team Grandma, aka Grandma Crew, aka G-ma Team, aka "G-unit"
You can't take Nicole anywhere without her tending to delayer.
One must always remember to climb the trees with Angie to collect parasites.
If you offer to buy Shaggy Jimbo icecream, be sure that you have money.
Nine women can live in and sleep in one room and share one bathroom for a whole week.
If you tie rebar in Guatemala, don't expect it to STILL be standing even when you are finished.
Bring brown/tan socks to work in so they stay the same basic color by the time you leave.
Room 10 is the scorpion room. BEWARE!
Great zapato at the warehouse! Better mice (raton) than a snake :)
You know your bug bites are bad when the seniors go back to their room to offer you medicine :(
If your eyes are bigger than your stomach, don't worry. Josh or Sam will eat it.
Doing dishes is bad for your back. Just ask Rick.
You need to be in shape to worship at a Guatemalan church.
Never give an orphan a drink packet (Kenny) or a jerky package - they'll eat the preservative (Rick).
"Santo, santo, santo, yo quiero verte" OR "Bano, bano, bano, yo necesito"
Never give a guitar to a former senior rockstar.
It is gun to watch the guards faces when given sour mints.
Put bug spray on you as soon as you land in Guatemala.
It's okay to work contruction in $400 Dolce sunglasses but don't set them down at the orphanage!
Shop around before buying hot sauce, especially if the bottles are covered in dust.
It is okay to lookout the window of the bus but don't stick your face out the window... Talula.
It takes many Gringos to get keys out of a locked room.
Planting can be "dam" fun!
You may think you're going to Guatemala but you are really "going to the moon".
If you EVER need ANYTHING ANYTIME ANYWHERE, ask Lori. She's got a spare.
Guatemala Rule #1: Memorize the weekly itinerary and follow it exactly as written.
Guatemala Rule #2: Ignore rule #1.
How do you say "wow" in Spanish?
Don't rely on mini "Spanish Phrases for Dummies" books for communication purposes. You won't get far.
If you're trying to speak Spanglish to Guatemalan children and they start talking really fast and laughing, yes, the are making fun of you.
Some people's bedrooms are spicy!
Be sure to ask Sam where the Mississippi River is located and Jessie where the North Pole is.
Morning mountain yoga.
"Blogging" daily without internet access.
Do you this the tarantula is still hiding behind the nightstand?

Thank you for your daily prayers while we were gone. They were strongly felt. Please continue to pray as we process everything we saw, did and felt while on the trip. We will continue blogging as we process through and post pictures. Please clink the link on the right (photos of current and previous trips) to see photos from various team members. And continue praying that God will be working in the hearts of the people we touched and interacted with. And for you - is God leading YOU to Guatemala?

Day Seven (January 22)

2010-01-30T16:35:00.002-05:00

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)

2010-01-29T16:12:00.002-05:00

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)

2010-01-28T16:58:00.004-05:00

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)

2010-01-27T21:10:00.003-05:00

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

2010-01-24T19:59:00.006-05:00

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)

2010-01-24T19:36:00.003-05:00

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

2010-01-24T19:25:00.002-05:00

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

2010-01-24T19:02:00.001-05:00

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

2010-01-21T19:33:00.001-05:00

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

2010-01-18T19:02:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-17T19:35:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-01-17T08:26:00.003-05:00

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

2010-01-16T09:32:00.003-05:00

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

2010-01-10T18:40:00.014-05:00

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.

2010 Trip approaching fast

2009-10-05T18:34:00.002-04:00

Oh man, I am BEHIND on updating this blog, huh??

After quite a few additions and sadly a few deletions, our team for the January 2010 trip has been formed. Once I get photos for the prayer cards, I will post pictures of the team members so you can be praying by face as well as name.

We are excited about this trip. We have 19 members, some return members, some new members, all hand picked by God members :-) We will be sponsoring the construction of 2 homes and 2 greenhouses on site. The greenhouses are a new project Carlos has developed. Families from surrounding villages move into the homes that will be also be built on site, they will work for the mission, the kids will go to school in the village and will help the mother tend to the crops in the greenhouses. They should be able to get about 3 harvests per year. They will split the profit 50/50 with the mission. This is a great way to make money for the family while teaching the kids a skill they can use as adults to feed and support their own families. I think it's a great project and I'm excited to see it grow over the next few months and years.

We already have our plane tickets and are now fundraising for the rest of our individual trip costs. Josh is doing a great job of leading the fundraising crew through quite a few chicken bbq's at local events. He is also working on another fundraiser at SoBo's restaurant. The people that own SoBo's also own a restaurant in Antigua and apparantly have adopted a child from Guatemala so they definitely have a heart for that country and have been very supportive of our teams.

Be praying that God would supply funds for the team members and be praying for our hearts to be opened to everything that we will see and experience and for the people we will encounter.

Interest Meeting

2009-07-13T09:33:00.000-04:00

For anyone out there in blog land that lives in the Salisbury area that is interested in getting more information about the upcoming January Guatemala trip, there will be an interest meeting on Sunday, July 26th at Bassett Furniture in Delmar.

It is important that we get our team formed and committed as soon as possible. There are some financial deadlines that hit a little earlier for this trip. So if you are considering going on the trip, this meeting is important to attend or contact Danny H.

If you are interested in going to Guatemala but January does not fit your time schedule, we are also talking about forming a summer team for summer 2010. Please contact Brenna J. if this interests you.

God may be calling you to Guatemala. Are you willing to listen and take the step in faith?

Story One

2009-02-12T21:24:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday was our panel discussion for the church. I asked the team members, if they could only share one story with people, what would that story be? It got me thinking about my own one story. I don't know that I can narrow it down. But I wanted to share ONE of my stories to begin.

The team was busy serving food at the dump on Wednesday, there are hundreds of women and children waiting in line, some patiently, others not so patiently. Dogs are meandering, flies are everywhere, there are yells and screams and laughter from playing kids. I am walking around talking to the kids, showing them their pictures on the camera, just interacting. I see one boy approaching me with urgency. Before I can say anything, he wraps his arms around my waist and squeezes. I hug him back and he runs off to join his friends. He knew what he needed - a hug, a small token of love - found a way to get it. His immediate need for love was fulfilled and he could continue on with his day.

Such a small things I gave him, almost insignificant, yet did I make his week? Being able to hug someone? He didn't know me. He didn't even stick around for me to talk to him. I can't even say I got a good look at his face. And yet, I touched his world and he rocked mine.

A Shared Memory

2009-02-03T15:39:00.007-05:00

Well, we have been back from Guatemala ten days now, and I am still having dreams each night of being there serving and working. Don't misunderstand me, this is not a bad thing. . . .it's a good thing! I do not want to forget the people nor their physical and spiritual needs. The memories instill compassion in me and create a desire to continue to pray for the people of Guatemala and to want to return each year to minister. The day we went to visit the school in the village, a large group of children showed up in no time at all! Several team members played futbol with them, some shared photos with the kids that were taken last year, some handed out candy and gum, some handed out "body stickers", but we all just loved on the kids. It was incredible! After a while some of the children began to leave, as it was getting late in the day. I was standing alone at the rear of our small bus and I noticed a small boy who was heading back to his "home" by himself. I estimate this little fellow to be about 5 or 6 years old. As I watched him go up the dirt road, he was running, but what struck my heart was that every few strides he would begin to skip! Kids only skip when they are happy and content. I watched him until he was out of sight as I was thinking many things to myself. Here is a little boy who, according to what we in the USA consider standard, has NOTHING, and he is happy and content and has joy in his heart. A handful of Americanos shared some candy, gum, time, and love for a little while, and God blessed this little guy in ways I could never have imagined!

Borrowing thoughts

2009-01-29T22:28:00.002-05:00

I was reading the Logan's blog this afternoon (link to their blog is in the column on the right - they are full-time missionaries in Guatemala) and I thought that many of their thoughts were very much what our own team discussed last week - ideas of community and being extremely content with what little they have because they have their family. I want to encourage you to read this entry on their blog. It makes me sad for our country and long for the years when my own family would sit on our front porch in the evenings and talk to our neighbors....

Day Seven

2009-01-27T14:06:00.002-05:00

I know this is a little late but I feel it is important to document our final day at the mission. It was our last day on the construction site so we were raring to go and yet we ended up sitting around until almost 9:00am before we got going. We were waiting on the paint and Carlos. I have to say that I was very impressed with how on-the-ball everyone was this week. We very rarely had to wait at all this week. It's been great! So we got to the site and we had the biggest crowd of kids yet. Apparently news has spread that the Americanos were in town! :-) We gave away lots of candy and then got to the painting of the houses. We FLEW through the painting with the help of quite a few of the kids.

After we finished painting, we all pitched in and cleaned up the yard area and got down to the dedication. We gathered the first family together and Steve prayed an awesome prayer over the house and the family. The mom started crying and saying thank you, that she has never dreamed of being able to have her own house, and to be able to have her whole family in beds (we also gave them beds for their new houses) and not have to sleep on the floor. It was pretty emotional! Then we moved over to the second house, the house of the mudslide victims. Again, Steve led us through an awesome prayer and the mom had tears just streaming down her cheeks the whole time. Then it was time to say good-bye. Sometimes it is difficult to comprehend how fast you can fall in love with a family. Mayli, the oldest daughter in house 2, was crying which just made it harder to say goodbye. It was like a big mass of hugs for about 5 minutes. I'm tearing up just remembering it.

After lunch we got back on the bus and traveled about 40 minutes in the opposite direction to the town of Gualan and the village of Limones. This is where the 4th house is going to be built (3 houses will be in El Modelo). The village looks very much like El Modelo with the difference being that there are hills and trees. But the level of poverty is very much the same. Many of the families in this village are victims of the massive mudslides this past summer. While we were waiting for the family, more and more kids started gathering around us at the school. There are about 100 families in the village and each family has 5-7 kids so we had a few hundred kids gathered around us. Zulema (our translator who was amazing all week!!) took charge and started singing and playing games with the kids. She saved us! We had so much fun playing with these guys and we ended up having enough candy to be able to give every single person at least 1 piece. In fact, we left with candy! We couldn't give it away!! The family is a grandmother, a mother and her 7 kids. SEVEN KIDS!! We gave them presents and candy and took pictures. We had Zulema explain who we were to the family so they weren't totally freaked out :-)

Angie was very concerned about the amount people in the size of house. More about this in a bit. We were taken out to dinner to El Meson as the second half of our cultural experience. It is a wonderful restaurant. We were served family style and let me tell you - we ate well! We had a chicken broth soup, nachos, baked potato, corn on the cob, more meat than you could eat and ice cream. It was SOOOO yummy! Over dinner, Carlos came by to see us and Joanne brought up the idea of expanding the size of the house for the family in Gualan. And he said, if we sent the money, absolutely we can increase the size. YAY! Good idea, Angie!

We had an amazing week. It was truly God blessed. Thank you for all of your support and prayers. We appreciated everyone's thoughts and prayers more than you will ever know. Please continue to check the blog and team members will be posting their own thoughts and feelings as they process through everything we experienced and saw. We'll be posting pictures and video as well.

Dios bendiga

First thoughts after returning home

2009-01-27T07:31:00.009-05:00

By God's grace we returned home safely early Sunday morning. I drove into my driveway in Pocomoke at 3:15 a.m. Needeless to say I was extremely tired! Since returning I have been catching up on many things, such as REST and SLEEP, and spending time with my lovely wife. I have spent a little time with Jenny, Phil, Ryleigh, and Tatum, and have talked with Melanie and Amy by phone. I hope to see Melanie tonight. Not sure when I will see Amy, as she lives in Orange County, California!

There is so much to process. You can view photos and videos of third world countries and imagine what things are like, but until you experience it, you will not completley understand. At least that is how it has been with me. When we first arrived in Guatemala I stated to my fellow team members that what I was seeing was pretty much what I expected. But once we actually began our mission work and began to interact with the people we came to minister to I soon realized that my preconceptions were not on target. There is so much need both physically and spiritually. The people, from the small children to the adults, embraced us with love, acceptance, and respect. I was amazed at the courtesy and manners displayed by the children. North Americans have so much and they have so little, yet they showed no signs of greed when we would give them toys, candy, gum, food, whatever. . . Not only did they thank us for these small gifts, they were content with them and in many cases would go to share what we gave to them with other children.

In my heart and mind are many, many stories of my experiences. Every time I share them with friends and co-workers I become extremely emotional. God was in the midst of every day, every minute, every thought, and every experience we had. While He was blessing the people of Guatemala through our efforts to serve, He was blessing all of us immeasureably! I am so thankful that Soul Discovery has partnered with the Hope of Life Mission and that we go to Guatemala every year. We have built, and are building, personal relationships that will last lifetimes. To see the people, especially the children, remember those of the team who have been before was nothing short of amazing! Those of us who were "first timers" bonded with several children and adults, and so look forward to seeing them again. What I witnessed, and was part of, was love in action at it's purest form. The Mission is on a mountain with the Orphanage being all the way to the top. The roads we walked on to get to various venues on the mountain are steep to say the least. Every time we went up the mountain to spend time with the children, they would begin shouting, "Americanos! Gringos!" as soon as they could see the tops of our heads coming up the road! We had such fun playing with the children! They loved the "shoulder rides" and "futbol".

I want to thank ALL of the "veteran" team members who helped this "rookie". Their assurances took away any anxiety that I had. Brenna, you and Danny are to be commended for the great job you did as our leaders! Throughout the week I witnessed the love of Jesus in all of the team! I intend to write more later and include some of the specific experiences that impacted me. Like I said, I am processing. Please continue to pray for the people of Guatemala, Hope of Life Mission, and for the Soul Discovery Mission Team. Seek how God wants you to contribute to this ministry, whether it be to join the team, provide money, or simply pray.

Day Six

2009-01-23T07:11:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we were back to the construction site. While we were gone on Wednesday, the crew had put the roof on house 1, laid the floors in both houses, and had the skimming/parging started on both houses. A few people jumped right in to help with the parging and found it to be quite difficult. A few of our guys were commenting on how they would finish a section and a crew member would come over and fix it :-) Jim K spent most of the day stirring the parging mixture. It's a very sticky substance so his shoulder could be paying for it today! As there was not a lot for our team to do, most of the team spent the day with the kids. Sarah spent quite a bit of time at the coloring station. Zach, Cody, and Josh spent quite a bit of time playing soccer with other team members jumping in and out of the game. Ken was pulling out candy and beanie babies, Josh was pulling out candy and dolls for the girls. Angie pulled out playdoh, which was a huge hit. One of the little girls in house 2 was having a rough day - everytime you turned around she was crying these big crocodile tears. Some were fake, she just didn't like that she wasn't getting all of the attention. One time she did fall and scrape her knee and landed on a bunch of biting ants that got all over her ankles. I can't wait until we can post pictures of the kids and the families that we're building for.

We left the site around 3 and came back here ready to shower and get up to the orphanage. There was no water. At. All. Nothing. It turns out they had diverted it somewhere else on the mission (to fill a tilapia pond for example). So a few did not take showers and those of us who were slower, ended up being able to take them. We then spent about an hour and a half with the kids up top. We handed out gifts to our sponsor kids and small tokens of affection to the others (candy). I just love these kids so much!! We ahve spent so much time with our sponsor family. I love the smiles on their faces and how they yell out our names and come running when they see us. Jim K has really bonded with Josesito (little Jose). He is the cutest and sweetest little boy. Jim D spent a lot of time coloring with a little girl (Norita - little Nora) and then finished the night rough housing with Wilmer. It was so hard to say good-bye to these guys tonight because we don't know if we will get back up tonight or not.

The mission has built an addition onto the cabana where they want to set up a little gift/souvenier shop. They have the goods, but the room is not finished. After dinner, they pulled out the tubs filled with stuff and we were able to shop right here! And they gave us great prices!! :-) After a bit of shopping, Josh led devotions and we ended up in a giant discussion of prayer. It was pretty awesome because I think most of us struggle with prayer. It has definitely encouraged me.

Today is the last day - we think we'll be painting - and doing the dedication of the houses. After lunch we hope to visit the village of Gualan, which is where our 4th funded house is going to be built. We're going to meet the family. And then we're going out to dinner :-)

Have a wonderful day! We love you and we'll see you soon!

Day Five

2009-01-22T07:15:00.002-05:00

Breakfast was a half hour later and I think everyone enjoyed the extra time. If nothing else, it was light outside when we got up! With blue shirts in hand (the shirts from the mission), we made our way down the mountain. After breakfast, Joanne showed us some of the buildings that we were unable to see on Sunday's tour. She explained the office and how the departments are divided up between people. She also took us to the warehouses and we walked through the store. It's very walmart-esque. Some of the things that are donated to the mission we found a little humorous - things like blonde hair-dye and leather winter coats. We then regrouped and those who have been here before this trip (Josh, Sarah, Steve, Ken, Zach and Danny) got to work on two (which turned into four) pallets of boxes full of juice, gatorade, and a mixture of things. Ever box was a mixture so they were sorting into types of items and also checking the expiration dates. Those of us who have not been here before (Angie, Cody, Jim K and Jim D) or were unable to see everything last time (Rick) and myself went on a tour of the school. After the tour, we joined the sorting team and had a few adventures. We found quite a few of God's lovely creatures like cockroaches, maggots, scorpions, and one plump little mouse!

We had a few minutes to visit the nutrition center before lunch where Angie fell even more in love with Rex :-) Josh found his little buddy Salina, a cute girl with a big personality! There is a mother and her two daughters currently living there. Her younger daughter Molina is just a few months old and had cleft lip surgery on Saturday. She is healing beautifully. There are a few rooms for mothers to stay in if their children are here getting care. I love that Carlos is so family oriented and keeps the family together whenever possible.

After lunch we were off to do a feeding at a dump in the city of Teculutan. These people live in the villages surrounding the dump, a few live under the trees in the dump itself and many work in the dump. We arrived and walked around a bit waiting for the food. While we were there, a truck came in with a delivery of trash. You would've thought it was somebody handing out a million dollars the way these kids ran towards the truck, jumped on the truck, one even ended up doing a flip into the truck! They all helped unload it, looking for treasures along the way. One little boy found a half-filled bottle of soda. Another found a t-shirt and a play trumpet. Many were pulling out bottles and cans that could be recycled for money. It was just amazing to see these children jump right in to work and they didn't fight over their treasures. It was just understood that if you found it, you got to keep it. There will be more stories of this from other team members later.

The feeding itself is an event like non-other. There has been a feeding center here for over a year now so the people understand how it works. Tables are set up at one end of a large pavilion. The people form 2 or 3 lines, each holding their own bowl or container of some sort (some had tupperware, some had soda bottles cut in half, many had bowls - probably all items they found at the dump) and a cup or bottle for the drink. The bowl was filled with rice, black beans, a hard boiled egg and a tortilla. They get their bowl back, they get their cups filled with juice and off they go. Many stay and eat there, often getting drink refills. Many get their food and immediately depart. A few hang around because if there is food left over, they are able to get extra. For many, this is the only real meal they will have until Friday's feeding. I spent most of the time walking around and videoing the rest of the team handing out the food. I just love the smiles on the kids when you can catch their eye and give them a big smile. They are the most beautiful children.

We then loaded the bus for our cultural adventure in Chicimula. This is not a touristy place, this is real-life. We walked through the market where meat hangs on hooks, fruit and veggies sit in baskets, shoes and belts and hats are sold, blankets, dresses, we even found some brightly dyed baby chicks for sale! It was a cool experience to get out in a city and see a piece of their "normal".

It was a great day! Another exhausting day. Today we are back at the work site and then we'll be visiting the orphanage before dinner tonight. Pray for safety on the job, in travels, for good health and more chances to show God's love.

We miss and love you all!

Day Four

2009-01-21T07:55:00.002-05:00

What a day full of really awesome things.

We were back at the construction site and the kids were waiting for us. They were much more responsive and wanting to play today! The construction crew had gotten farther on the houses while we were gone as well. The house 1 team (Angie, Steve, Sarah, Danny and Jim K) finished putting up the top layers of block and later Danny was able to pour the concrete in the corner columns. Angie pulled of construction for a while to play with the kids - she painted finger nails, decorated with body stickers and covered the boys AND girls in big farm machine and animal stickers. They LOVED it!! :-)

The house 2 team spent the day leveling out the inside of the house with a dirt/rock mix. Zach, Cody, Rick, and Josh shoveled the mix into countless wheelbarrows and wheeled it into the house where Ken was waiting to spread it around. It was a very dirty job!! Zach and Ken took a break in the afternoon to play a little bit of "futbal" with some of the boys. Somehow during the day, we gained more kids to play with. We were surprised that we hadn't gained them earlier actually! I spent most of the day playing with the kids. I brought a new book today and the loved it. They asked me to sit in their house on their bed and read to them. I had to step out for a minute and when I came back, Elza (one of the boys in house 1) was reading to the other kids. It was so cute!!

We had enough sandwiches today at lunch that we were able to share with our house families and a few neighbor kids. One thing that impressed Joanne was that the woman in house 1 doesn't have much of anything and yet, she was cooking food to feed her family and a few neighbor children. She is willing to share what little she has. It was a pretty amazing site.

We then went to the school/church building that we constructed last year. There weren't any kids when we got there but they saw us coming and just started appearing out of the cracks of the village. A few remembered us from last year. (I'll save those stories for other team members to share later.) A few of us handed out candy, Ken had Soul Discovery balloons, which I'm sure pieces of them are all over the village by now :-) Angie and Joanne painted finger nails, some of the guys played soccer and everyone took LOTS of pictures. Even the moms wanted their picture taken with their kids. It was cool - they wanted to see a family portrait of sorts!

A few of us went off to see a finished example of the houses we are building and found a handicapped girl alone crawling in the mud without much clothing. Her mother was at work and nobody was around to take care of this child. Carlos V has tried for over a year to get this girl onto the mission to take care of her properly but the mom won't let her go because she gets money from the state for this girl. It was a rough situation and perhaps team members will share more later. But please be praying that Carlos can find a way to convince this mother to see the good that Carlos can do for her.

Today we will be spending the morning at the mission and then we are off to do a meal distribution at the dump. And then we're doing a cultural afternoon in Chicimula. It's going to be a great day for a change of pace and rejuvination for tomorrow's construction. Please pray for the processing and emotions following today. We have now seen many different situations and I know people are beginning to process things internally. This can be scary for some as it brings new emotions.

Much love from Guatemala!

Day Three

2009-01-20T07:20:00.004-05:00

Wow. Can you believe we have completed day three already?? It's going so fast! We spent yesterday at the job site in Pueblo Modelo. Those of us who have been there before could not believe how much it has grown in one year! The government gave the village 500 more acres, which have been divided into plots of land for families. Our houses are deep into the village.

The team was eager to get to work so we divided and conquered. The houses are right beside each other and are going up simultaneously so we made it a friendly competition and one team was quickly pulling ahead. Angie has found a new calling in life - she did every job there was to do on the house: wheelbarrow sand, mix concrete, move block, lay block, fill mortar..... We joked that she could build the third house all by herself! Zach and myself spent a lot of the morning doing mortar. I'm not fast at it but I am pretty good! :-) Josh and Cody were digging out the front yard area for dirt to fill the floor area inside the house, to level it out before the concrete will be laid. Kenny spread out their dirt and later filled in mortar with Rick and Zach. Steve and Sarah worked side by side all day filling mortar and moving block. Jim K was Angie right hand man working hard! And Jim D spent the day assisting Carlos, the head guy on house number 1.

I was able to talk with the woman with house 2. Currently her home is about 6 x 6 with corregated tin and garbage bags for walls. She is married and has 3 little boys. She was a victim of this past summer's mudslides. She is very excited to be able to watch her home being built in her backyard, knowing that on Friday they will be moved in!! She has a small flower garden that is beautiful and she was out washing the windows that will be in her new home. It is very obvious that she takes pride in the appearance of her home. She certainly has been through much and deserves this!! The woman in house 1, her husband left her for another woman when she was 2 months pregnant with their youngest who is now 7 months old. She has 4 children, 3 girls and a boy. Her house is made of black garbage bags and bed sheets. It is very overwhelming to comprehend their current conditions. More on that later...

The kids who will live in the new homes spent the day by our sides. They are the sweetest things! We fed them all day :-) In the afternoon, I painted the little girls fingernails and Kenny and I read them "Los huevos y jamon" (green eggs and ham). They loved it! We'll need to find something new today. They just have the most beautiful smiles!

When we returned to the mission, we all split up. Some went to the rescue center/nutrition center. A few went to the orphanage and a few went swimming and then to the orphanage. We played for a while and then walked to dinner. Carlos wanted us to eat at the new mission house. It was gorgeous and delicious!! We ate so much good food and had an awesome view of the valley. After dinner, Cody had us ROLLING. We laughed so much our faces hurt. He is quite the comedian!! Carlos even got in on it. He was asking us questions about our church and how we raise our funds and even he started telling jokes and laughing. It was so much fun!!

Today we're off to the construction site again. Pray for safety, no sunburn, and opportunities to show God's love.

Dios bendiga! (God Bless!)

Day Two

2009-01-19T07:21:00.003-05:00

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!!

We're Here!

2009-01-18T07:33:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was our travel day, and what an exhausting day it was!! We met at 3am and were also joined by our pastor and his whole family and the worship pastor. It was pretty cool to see their love and dedication to the team to join us so early!! Following a time of prayer, we loaded the vehicles and off we went! We made such great time getting to the airport. We didn't see many people, even on the beltway.

All of the flights were great. Cody, a first time flyer, LOVED it. He says his favorite part is the take-off when the plane first leaves the ground. Angie was a little nervous before the first flight because, as we were sitting on the plane, the captain tells us that we can't leave until they de-ice the plane. Yikes!

All of our luggage made it here with us! That in itself is a praise. We each had to check two bags because we were stuffed to the gills with donations. THANK YOU for all of your supplies! They are much needed!! We were able to stop and get Camperos chicken (Guatemalan KFC) before leaving the city. Yum! :-)

It was very cool to hear all of the comments and observations made by the newbie team members as they were seeing things. That is one of my favorite parts of leading a team - hearing and seeing others' reactions for the first time.

The boys are all bunking together and us 3 girls have a little suite room with a personal bathroom. The guys are already off to their antics and jokes. We are anticipating a hardworking and FUN week ahead of us!!

After dinner last night we were told that Carlos (the head guy down here) was off in the mountains about 7 hours away rescuing a child - she is 3 years old and weighs about 15 pounds. He wasn't sure if she was going to live until they could get her to the hospital. So it is hitting us head on - this is real. Please pray for that little girl. If I get more information, I will pass it on.

Keep praying, supporters!! We love you and we'll "talk" to you again tomorrow :-)

The time is here

2009-01-16T19:46:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow we leave for Guatemala!

I am hoping for internet access so that I can keep you all updated. Pictures and video will come when we return.

Prayers are deeply appreciated and desired. Thank you now for thinking of us.

We love you all!

Tonight

2009-01-13T21:37:00.002-05:00

Tonight was our last meeting. It was full of good food, great conversations, laughter, final preparations and prayer. It was a great last meeting. I can't believe we're down to 4 days. four DAYS!

God is going to do great things. I can feel it. Keep praying, supporters!!

One Week to go

2009-01-10T17:07:00.002-05:00

I cannot believe we are down to our final week. I was out today purchasing supplies that are needed for the mission and I am amazed at the amount of stuff I was able to get. In my normal life, I shop generic brands for much of our needs because it's cheaper and it's usually the exact same as name brands. I was shopping today with someone else's money and I know that I could've bought name brands because, hey, I wasn't paying for it. But I also knew that by buying generic brands, I was able to purchase so much more for the mission. So I did. I bought quite a few bottles, sippy cups, desitin, children's and baby tylenol and ibprofen, children's cough medicine, bandaids, gauze and a few other things. In fact, the lady at the checkout was like, "um, are you...stocking up??" And I was able to tell her about our trip and the mission. It was a great chance to tell someone about what we're doing.

One more week!!! This week we have our final meeting to tie up loose ends and spend some time in prayer. Please be in prayer for us this week as reality sets in that we are going soon!! :-) That we would all remember to pack important things, that our families would be safe and healthy (and sane!) while we're gone. Thank you for your support and commitment to keep us in prayer during this time!

Team Guatemala 2009

2009-01-04T20:46:00.008-05:00

*Drum roll*

Introducing the team:

(Picture will be added soon)

Sheila E: Sheila owns her own outdoor furniture store. This is her 1st time going to Guatemala. She has a niece who was recently adopted from Guatemala.

Zach T : Zach is a college student. This is his second trip to Guatemala with the team. He is joined on this trip by his father, Rick, and younger brother. Cody.

Steve A: Steve works as a local missionary of sorts. This is his 3rd trip to Guatemala. He is joined on this trip by his daughter, Sarah. His wife will be waiting anxiously for their return.

Sarah A: Sarah is a senior in high school. This is her 2nd trip to Guatemala. She is joined by her father, Steve.

Rick T: Rick works in the offices of Purdue. This is his 2nd trip to Guatemala. He is joined by his two oldest sons, Zach and Cody. His wife and youngest son will be anxiously waiting their return.

Ken J: Ken is a middle school science teacher. This is Ken's 3rd trip to Guatemala. He is joined by his wife, Brenna.

Josh T: Josh works as an engineer by day and father by night. This is his 2nd trip to Guatemala and is leaving behind his wife and 2 young children.

Jim K: Jim is vice president at a general contracting facility for which he has worked for 30 years. This is his 1st trip to Guatemala. He will be dearly missing his wife, daughters and granddaughters while gone.

Jim D: Jim works in the local school district. This is his 1st trip to Guatemala and is not exactly sure what he has gotten himself into.

Danny H: Danny is a manager of a furniture store. This is his 2nd trip to Guatemala and is co-leading the team. His wife and 3 girls will be missing him while gone.

Cody T: Cody is a sophomore in high school. This is his 1st trip to Guatemala. He is joining his dad, Rick, and brother, Zach, for this new experience.

Brenna J: Brenna is a middle school chorus teacher. This is her 4th trip to Guatemala and she is co-leading the team. Brenna is joined by her husband, Ken.

Angie G: Angie owns an interior decorating business. This is her 1st trip to Guatemala and is anxiously leaving behind her two wonderful children.

A New Year

2009-01-04T15:42:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year!! I know that lots of people really struggled in the year 2008. That is true for our group as well but God blessed our team. He gave us a fantastic group of people and blessed in providing our team with the finances.

We are now two weeks out from our trip. Please continue to pray for our hearts and the hearts of the Guatemalan people. Please be praying for our pilots and drivers, that they would all help us to arrive there and home safely. Be praying that God would be paving the way for awesome things to happen while we are there. Finally, be praising Him that we are able to go, that we are willing to go, and that you all have provided the way for us to go.

In two weeks from now, we will have arrived, spent one night, gone to church and gotten a tour of the mission!!

Thank you!

2008-12-30T11:38:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all of you who came out and supported the SoBo's fundraiser this past Sunday. It raised a nice amount to add to our funds. Dark Gold Jazz played and were wonderful as always. It was a great time of hanging out with friends and eating good food for a good cause! :-)

Just sharing

2008-12-27T18:28:00.001-05:00

Countdown continues

2008-12-27T10:03:00.002-05:00

3 Weeks and counting...

3 weeks from today we will be on a plane heading towards Guatemala. Personally, I am getting VERY excited! I am so in love with the people of Guatemala. I love the culture and the atmosphere of love and joy in all the people. Even when they have nothing, they have their families and love. I wish that the people of OUR country had this attitude. I think our country would be in a much better state morally and spiritually. Or at least the family unit would be more important and treasured among people.

Prayer requests:
Health of team members from this point on
Hearts of the team members - that we would all be prepared to accept what we see and love on the people
Hearts of the Guatemalas - that they would be prepared to accept our love and God's love

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

**TOMORROW is the SoBo's benefit event. Come have lunch or dinner and support the team.

Church Dedication Video

2008-12-21T13:45:00.005-05:00

On the January 2008 trip, our team built a church building onto the side of an existing school. It was also going to be used for the school during the week. We started building on Monday with Carlos (the head of the mission) saying that we were going to hold a church service in the building on Friday night. We all thought there was NO WAY this was going to happen. Well, sure enough! God showed up and the team finished the church building in 3 full days and 2 half days (that's 4 days if you're not a big counter)!!!! The video above was taken during the dedication service Friday evening. There were almost 40 people that gave their lives to Christ that night. God truly worked miracles that week...

Few things

2008-12-20T16:34:00.003-05:00

God pulled through (as He always does) and we were able to make our final payment this week!! We are now down to 28 days and I am getting SO excited!! :-)

Prayers are now needed for final preparations for the team members, packing, preparing to be away from families for 8 days, some are traveling to a third world country for the first time.

If you live in the Salisbury area, there is going to be a fundraiser at SoBo's Restaurant on Sunday, Dec 28th. 20% of SALES goes towards the team.

We are collecting items that the mission needs. If you would like to donate, please bring items to the fundraiser on the 28th, to Soul Discovery any Sunday until Jan 11 or contact a team member.

Thank you for your prayers and support!!!

~Brenna

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T20:06:00.006-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!! I wanted to say thank you to all of our friends and family to are supporting us in prayer and financially!

Thank you, God, for another year and triumphs and struggles. May we continue to draw closer to you as we embark on this journey to minister to your people in Guatemala. Thank you for the opportunity to bless them and to share your love with them. Thank you for our friends and families who are supporting us on this journey. We love you. Amen

God is good

2008-11-20T18:56:00.003-05:00

I know you know this already but it never hurts to hear it. God provides, all the time, in HIS timing. We were able to make our third payment AND there's money left in the account towards the final payment. God is providing.

Half Way

2008-10-31T21:29:00.002-04:00

I just checked our accounts and we are officially half way to paying for our trip!! However, it feels like the second half is the harder half to raise. It will come. I know it will. I'm a worrier by nature. In my heart I know that God will provide on HIS time, but my head is telling me that numbers aren't adding up the way they need to.

Thank you for our supporters. Keep praying that God will provide for us in this time of financial hardship for so many. Pray that God will give the team peace as we are preparing our hearts and minds for the things we will encounter.

Dios, Sabemos que Ud. es mas poderosos que cualquier cosas en el mundo. Por favor bendiga a las personas de Guatemala. Gracias Senor. Amen.

(God, We know that you are more powerful than anything in the world. Please bless the people of Guatmala. Thank you, Lord. Amen.)

~Brenna

Jim

2008-10-30T07:02:00.003-04:00

I have been a believer since 1969 and have been involved in many aspects of Christian Ministry ever since. Throughout the years my wife and I have contributed financially to home and foreign missions. This is the first time that I will actually be going to a foreign country for the purpose of fulfilling a missionary experience. I am confident that God has asked me to be part of this upcoming mission trip and I am excited! I am fortunate that I will be part of a team that has been to Guatemala on past mission trips and have shared their heartfelt desire to make a difference to the people we will be ministering to. I am also fortunate to have so many who are supporting me financially, and prayerfully, making it possible for me to go. While there are many purposes of this mission trip, I pray that the lives of many people will be changed, not only the lives of the Guatemala people, but also the lives of all of us who are obeying God's direction to "go". And. . . . I am going to have the opportunity to meet the little fellow that my wife and I sponsor! I can hardly wait!!!

Mission work

2008-10-25T12:23:00.005-04:00

I went on my first mission trip to Guatemala last January (2007) and was so moved by my experience that I'm planning on a return trip with Team Guatemala of Soul Discovery Church. I was very touched by the people of that country. Their spirit despite their conditions is inspiring and humbling. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to go there and serve in God's name. It is an opportunity for personal growth and gives a new perspective to all we have and take for granted here in the USA. Please support this important mission and I'm happy to share any information I can about what God is doing in Guatemala and in my life as well.
Blessings,
Terry

2008-10-24T20:14:00.000-04:00

---from an essay for English---I have decided that I would like to become a missionary to countries and people bereft of food and shelter when I finish school. The event that began this idea was when my father returned from a Guatemala mission trip. In January of 2007 my dad went with a team to build an addition to Hope of Life orphanage. While he was there he helped feed a poor village that lived by an unkempt trash dump. He also worked at a food warehouse where he met many local families. In the evenings he spent time playing with the orphans. One orphan named Erika was always close by his side in the pictures he brought home.
After he returned home he told many stories. Through our church we were able to become sponsors for Erika and her sister. Our church has a partnership with Hope of Life mission in Guatemala. The mission has an orphanage, a nutrition center, a home for the elderly, a school, and a tilapia farm. Wow!
The next year in February of 2008 my older brother, Zach, was able to go. My dad wasn’t able to go with him because of his health. My brother went to help build a school/church building for the poor village of El Modela. He got to hang out with lots of orphans and make friends with them, and meet Erika and Marilis, the two sisters we sponsor.
These experiences of my family members have made me want to go too. I hope to help the people there, and meet and make new friends. I have been taking Spanish to help me communicate with the Guatemalan people. My brother, dad, and I are all going together along with a team from my church. We will deploy in January of 2009, and we are planning to build three or more houses in the village of El Modelo near the trash dump. The dour homes they are living in now are scraps of trash and cardboard put together. I hope to be helpful and make a good impact in the lives of others. Hopefully this will be the first of many mission trips to come.---Cody

Journal Bits - Monday January 21st 2008

2008-10-23T00:00:00.001-04:00

(taken from bits of my journal)…I thought yesterday was an eye opener of sorts but today was even more so. The village we went into to work today, El Modelo, was basically a desert with various shacks modeled as homes. It was filthy. From the moment we entered the village there was trash and debris everywhere. The homes, if you could call them such, were built with trash bags and other plastics to keep the sand/dust out. Some had built some of the walls out of mud. Trash was everywhere. The kids swarmed us almost immediately and played around us as we did construction throughout the day. These kids had desperation on many of their faces. Some looked as though they had been in the same clothes for many days. Some of the younger children wore only a shirt. The dirt was caked to the faces of many and you could tell there was no such thing as bathing. Though these kids had nothing at all they still had many characteristics of any child. They still played, laughed, bullied and communicated as most children. I could see they were happy to have the contact we brought into the village. Many of the kids ran around with no shoes and what lay on the ground was rock, glass, metal and many dangerous things we would never allow our kids to play around even with shoes on…

-Danny

As we prepare...

2008-10-17T23:14:00.002-04:00

We are down to just under 3 months until our next trip to Guatemala. Our team is formed and we are excitedly preparing to embark on another journey hosted by God. We have 13 team members this go around ranging in age from high school to....well, maybe I won't give that information away :-) I am very excited and blessed to be co-leading this team of amazing people. We are already bonding and laughing. I just can't wait to see what all God will do in our lives throughout this experience. God is working on team members right now; He isn't waiting until we step off the plane down there or until we hold the orphans or until we listen to the elderly. He is working on us right now! We are dealing with faith in the fund-raising process primarily at this point.

As you begin to pray for our team, please pray that God would provide financially and for our hearts to be open as we prepare to do His work in a third world country.

Dios Bedinga (God bless you)
~ Brenna