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.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
A Shared Memory
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!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Borrowing thoughts
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....
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Day Seven
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
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
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.
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.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Day Six
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!
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!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day Five
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!
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!
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