We did not have internet service after leaving Guatemala City for Lemoa, so blog updates were impossible. We are now home....so here is an overview of our Mission. Words or pictures do not do justice for what our time in Guatemala has meant to all of us. We were touched by God often, we saw His hands at work with our team and with the people of Guatemala. We have our individual stories....and there are many of them. Following is an overview of our mission. We look forward to sharing more of our story with you!
We headed out to Lemoa Tuesday morning. It took about 4 hours to get there through scenic towns, winding mountain roads and lush green fields planted on steep mountain slopes.
We arrived at the Methodist retreat center excited to get ready to work and also put on VBS at Hogar del Nino Huerfano Orphanage.
We worked construction projects at the retreat center in the morning and VBS in the afternoons.
We learned how to mix concrete by hand, make rebar, pour concrete and plaster walls. We finished sidewalks around two sides of the community meeting building and also plastering the back wall. We moved dirt, sand, rocks, etc to mix with the concrete for the sidewalks with the help of two Guatemalan workers. We were able to finish our project by the end of the week in spite of the fact that it rained/poured down every afternoon.
The afternoons were spent doing VBS at the orphanage. There were nineteen children and we all fell in love with them. It was extremely hard to say goodbye on Saturday morning as we all had developed deep relationships.
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| Children Lined up from local elementary school for our gathering! |
On Friday we invited the children from the local elementary school to the Community Center for fun & games, a Bible lesson and singing. Almost 400 children showed up along with their teachers. We had a wonderful time interacting with the kids. At the end we gave each child a baggie containing Ms. Nancy's famous "yellow bowl" chex mix.
As we leave Guatemala, we reflect back on our week here with mixed emotions: sadness at saying good bye to our many new friends, joyfulness at having met and played with these precious children, and hope that we have planted seeds and showed them God’s love through our actions. No doubt we all will return home changed individuals having seen the hands of God so many times, felt His presence continuously and were blessed beyond our imagination.
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| The start of day 1 - repairing of the battery cable |
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| Glass! |
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| Repairing Windshield - Tape and cardboard |
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| Sifting sand for conrete |
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| More sifting! |
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| Jeanie getting to know Maria |
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| Mixing concrete |
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| Preparing concrete forms |
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| constructing rebar |
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| Plastering outside wall |
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| Mixing more concrete |
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| Filling forms with concrete |
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| Plaster job coming along |
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| VBS Bible story |
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| VBS Crafts |
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| "Older" Kids Crew |
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| Hands of Christ! |
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| Methodist Center in Lemoa |
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| Hard at work |
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| Produce market in Chichicastanango |
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| Yes....more concrete mixing! |
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| School Kids lined up for program |
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| Kids enjoying the program |
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| School kids posing for the camera |
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| Ms Nancy has their attention |
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| Team Singing for program |
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| Team gathering at the bank.....preparing for lots of shopping in ChiChi |
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| Team in the produce market |
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| Church in ChiChi |
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| Orphanage kids participating in program |
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| Orphanage Kids listening to program |
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| Orphanage Kids younger crew |
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| Orphanage Kids middle age crew |
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| Older crew |
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| Making "yellow bowl" mix for school gathering |
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| Kids activity - Trust Walk |
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| Skit we performed for the orphanage |
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| Kids hands.....after assembling blankets |
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| Kids love to see pictures of themselves |
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| Working on Blanket |
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| Game time at orphanage |
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| Yep....we wanted to bring them home with us! |
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| Kids room |
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| Saying goodbye was not easy! |
