GUATEMALA MISSION ....the team has arrived!

The team at la semilla Guatemala City

The team made it safely to Guatemala City.  We are excited about riding the Chicken Bus to lemoa ....well some are?   Bus pulls out at 9 for a 3 to 4 hr trip.  The whole team is anxious to get on the road and start our mission. We now have 2 new members.  Donna leggett and Rhonda miller have joined us......we miss you Andrew and JD.   We've already been touched by God in many ways and are excited to see He has in store for the remainder of the week.  pray for us as we pray for you.

Guatemala Mission - Time with Nick Miller




Boarding "Chicken Bus"

 On Friday we were fortunate to join with Nick Miller and the Students International (SI) team.  We caught the Chicken bus up to Magdalena with the SI teams to visit their work sites.  We were amazed at all that these student’s had done in their two week mission with SI to Guatemala. They lived with host families in Magdalena, which is the town that Nick lives in. They helped with various projects in this area. From agriculture, social work, micro finance, helping in the elementary school and social work in Hermano Pedro hospital in Anitgua, these students experienced first hand what it’s like to help the Guatemalan people.

Kids performing for the team at El Gorrion elementry school





The kids at this elementary school performed for the team. Then we visited some of the classrooms. After visiting each site the team gathered and prayed for specific prayer requests for each site.





Some of the SI Team



The teams gathered for a banquet Friday evening in Magdalena for a celebration and closure of the two weeks they had been serving in this community. At the banquet they shared many of their experiences during their stay. We were very much touched by their testimonies. It was obvious that God was truly at work through these kids making a significant impact on this community.

Throughout the day, one of the things that really stood out for us was the emphasis on building relationships with the people. It was a blessing to spend time with Nick and the SI Teams in Magdalena.



Kids playing in the street in Magdalena



SI Closing Banquet







GUATEMALA HOGAR DEL NINO HUERFANO ORPHANGE MISSION



Children of Guatemala

 St. Andrew's UMC Guatemala mission team leaves for Lemoa Guatemala on July 11, 2011.  Our mission travels to Guatemala City then enbarks upon a three hour bus ride to Lemoa.  Lemoa is located north of Guatemala City in a mountainous region of about 5500 feet. 

Hogar del Niño Huerfano 

http://www.samaritanhands.org/hogar/    is an orphanage in rural Guatemala sponsored by the United Methodist Church. There are currently 18 children living in the orphanage, and two full-time adult staff members. We will be doing some construction, as well as VBS for the children.  We are planning a community gathering on Friday evening, inviting the VBS parents, familys and friends.

 Our team consists of:

Sarah Hahn, Jeanie Howell, David Howell, Sarah Redpath, Nancy Waller, Kasey Waller, Dylan Leggett, Logan Leggett, Richard Leggett, Ken Musick, John Daniel Roy, Joshua Duke, Andrew Tarver (team leader).  We are also excited that Nick Miller will be joining our team for the week!

MORE FACTS AND INFORMATION ABOUT GUATEMALA
The highland area was one of the hardest-hit by massacres and destruction of villages during the years of guerrilla rebellion and army repression. These began in the 1960's, escalated after the 1976 earthquake, and reached a peak during the 1980's, tapering off slowly until a peace agreement was finalized in 1996.

Recovery from the 30-year civil war has been very slow, with many setbacks. The Iglesia Evangélica Nacional Metodista Primitiva de Guatemala (IENMPG) was active in emergency relief work during the period of the worst repression, with help from the General Board of Global Ministries and other agencies.

As a result of its violent and tragic history, Guatemala is at or near the bottom of the international rankings that indicate general welfare in Latin America and Caribbean countries: literacy, infant mortality, life expectancy, nutritional status, family income, etc. In Guatemala overall, the average level of schooling is 2.3 years. In indigenous regions such as Quiché, it is 1.3 years, well below the 3-year minimum considered necessary to achieve functional literacy.

The national economy is chronically in crisis, with high unemployment and inadequate wages for those who are fortunate enough to have jobs. Pastors in the Methodist Church do not receive salaries, but support their families by farming; by small businesses or selling in indigenous markets; or by hiring out as construction workers. Recently a few churches in the U.S. have begun support for some of our Methodist pastors by donating a monthly stipend to assist their ministry. More assistance of this type is always welcome. VIM teams have made critical contributions to the survival and function of the IENMPG, which in turn plays a vital role in improving the spiritual and material health of its members at the individual, family and community levels.

Dulac Mission - VIVA.....as we return home!

I write this blog at home on my family's computer. We are all back in Baton Rouge now.  I think we are all glad to be able to sleep in and relax. On Friday morning, last checks of bags were made, and everyone said farewell to the place we had called home for a week. Our ride back was relatively uneventful, with one stop for gas, and another stop for restrooms.  Many tried to sleep, but only a few were successful. Robert was a little late, after convincing Mr. Ken Musick to go fishing. But other than that, no hold-ups. So we arrived back to BR at 10:30, only to realize no one had keys for the friendship building, and no way to get all of our gear inside. Fortunately, a key was found fairly soon. The parents waited patiently though. Some even acted happy to see their children again. So there ended our adventure in Dulac. But now we look forward to more of a vacation in Panama city for Big Stuf newt week. It's been a pleasure writing this blog. I'd like to thank Mrs. Nancy for volunteering me to do this, Mr. David for his guidance, and everyone else for their input. THis was only my first year, but it won't be my last. So goodbye, and VIVA!
Nick Saunders

Construction team at Ms. Eula's

UMM Cook Team - Cooked Jambalaya and invited the entire Dulac Community!

VBS Closing Progam

Serving the community dinner

Happy Servants!

Community gathering for Jambalaya dinner

Pinata time.....crowd control!

This is the end of a great week in the Dulac Community.  We had over 40 youth and adults that served the community at times during the week.  We did construction, building porch covers at two locations.  We cleaned and stained the ramp walkway at the community center.  We stained a porch at a local resident's home.  We did Fiesta VBS for the community childreen, including some pick up and return services.  We cooked and provided a Jambalaya dinner for a community gathering to close out our week.  The kids, young and old had a great time serving and God provided a gift to us all!

Viva till next time!

DULAC MISSION - Thursday

STAY Dulac Blog 2011

Thursday morning began early for the working teams at 6:00. The morning birds then had the fun job of waking up everyone else. So we started work with a group of happy and invigorated porch builders, and grumpy painters. That morning I had been assigned to work with Porch Crew #1 at Mrs. Eula’s house. This was very different from the slower and monotonous job of painting the deck. Porch crew #2 was working in scorching heat also. A lot of improvisation and real hard work was required. And all the while as the staining crew started a new project at Mr. James’s house, we began building handrails and supports for a porch cover. After a hard morning full of construction, we ate lunch and listened to Jack as he paraphrased every single line of Forrest Gump. And this rendition included voices for each character as well as motions. We then had a short siesta before VBS. This fun time was washed down with a delicious dinner of rich and hearty beef stew with rice and vegetables. To work off the pounds from dinner, we entered a local Zumba class at the gymnasium next door, allowing some of our youth to show their dance skills in front of a crowd of locals. This workout sufficiently wore us all out, and all were ready to shower, until Mr. David had the great idea to take a field trip in the van to see some gators. After this trip, everyone settled in and got ready for a new day of work the next morning.

The next morning the crews woke up ready to finish the jobs. Everyone was ready to acquire the owners’ sign of approval and happiness. Fortunately all of our new work seemed to fit the needs of the wonderful people who let us come, and work on their property. Unfortunately, neither of the porch crews finished. After all of the crews got back most of us took showers, and prepared for the VBS finale. Every one who came got to listen to the wonderful voices of all of the kids who took part in VBS and ate awesome Jambalaya made by our wonderful UMM. After we all had to pitch in and help clean the gym it took roughly about an hour, and was quite easy. After our evening devotion everyone was just piddling around. This included messing around with ductape, random conversations, and making the final preparations for the thing we all so desperately missed… home.

Nick and “others”

Mr. James and Mr.David giving us direction on staining the porch

Hard at work staining

Mr. James sharing his huricane pictures and stories

Fiesta ......VBS is going great!

Fiesta!  Kids are loving it!

"feeding" the gators!

Robert....who is watching who!

Team building porch cover at Ms. Deloris....framing is done!

Team building porch cover at Ms. Eula's.....lookin good!

Porch at Mr. James

"Ace" Paint Team



Team hard at work!




Mr. James and the "ace" paint team!

Porch cover going up!



DULAC MISSION - TUES - WED



Staining Ramp

Wild Bunch!

It has been almost 2 days since we have updated this blog, so I will begin by talking about Monday when we left off. While we were updating the blog, a challenge was taking place. Jack was complaining of boredom, and he bet Phillip that he could be tied up and escape in under an hour. Unsurprisingly, since Phillip is an Eagle Scout, Jack failed. Then, our last four travelers, Madison, Savannah, and the Wallers arrived. With them arrived plenty of extra food, thankfully. Later on in the afternoon, we all helped set up and organize everything for Fiesta VBS this week. Next came a delicious dinner of noodles and meat sauce, and later on, improvised fishing and more VBS set up. The following morning kicked off bright and early, with one crew staining the deck, one crew building a porch, and another one still setting up for VBS. The deck was almost halfway finished, and a lot of headway was made on the porches. After everyone had showered, and in some cases napped, we made the finishing touches to VBS setup as the first few kids trickled in. We had 33 kids for the first day! VBS started with a slightly embarrassed and confused Jack, Madison, and Savannah singing and dancing in front of the kids. Then came a “lifting” bible session with Breanna, Hunter, Andrew, and Mr. Harold. Next, everyone was tired out by Robert and JD’s games and made a picture-perfect craft with Sarah, Sarah, and Mackensie. And finally, Kasey and Miller’s hard work paid off when all the kids loved the cupcakes they had made for snack. Then everyone gathered and regrouped back at the gym for a final song with Jack, Savannah, Madison, and a new addition, Ali, the two year old girl being carried around on Madison’s hip. Finally, when, all of the kids had left, the youth and adults settled in for a nice dinner of homemade jambalaya. After the antics of the previous night, not as many people were up to fishing, but some of the diehards still ventured out for the evening, but returned with only leftover bait, Robert’s wet pants, and plenty of bug bites. With plans for an early start, everyone hit the hay pretty quickly. But not quickly enough it turned out. It seems many of us are not morning people. Personally, I discovered that a knife banging a coffee mug is not the most pleasant sound to wake up to. Thankfully, by the time most people were up, the senior high traffic had cleared out. The remaining people were all assigned to the task of staining the deck. This job was made easier with a promise of 30 minutes extra sleep for the first person to stain their section of deck, with quantity, and quality both being factored in to the judging. Unfortunately, before all could finish, we ran out of stain. We finish this blog at this not-so-dramatic cliffhanger. So come back to this site soon to learn how all of our projects have ended up.



Building Porch

The Cooks!

Getting Crafts Ready for VBS

Fiesta Time!

Porch building team measuring for cut



Awesome Group

Great Music



VBS Games



Bible Teaching



Getting Ready for VBS Fiesta



DULAC MISSION 2011 - MONDAY

STAY Dulac Blog 2011

Our trip started out with lots of fun in the usual fashion. The 3 vans and their entourage were filled with 18 youth and 7 adults, with 2 more youth and 2 adults on the way. The ride was long, entertaining, and full of hand checks, except for in the co-ed car!

Our first stop....FUMC Houma’s Youth Room was a great place for darts, pool, and ping-pong. We enjoyed pizza and fellowship with their youth, and later learned a new game, “Underground Church”. Spies deceived, missionaries gathered, angels saved, guards chased, and kids screamed. All in all, the game was a lot of fun. When we finally arrived at the Dulac Community Center, we were greeted by a stifling lack of air conditioning in the boys’ side. Everyone survived the night, and started the first day of “work” with no food in the building! Fortunately the delivery truck came quickly, and we ate breakfast a little late! Work was still to be fully defined and determined, so an intense game of Phase 10 was started in the meantime! All in all, we perhaps had a little bit too much free time the first day, but tomorrow will be much more productive! We did get a great start on the blankets that VBS will finish to send to Guatemala, and also pressure-washed the deck! Two other teams drew up plans for building projects for the next few days.
Todays Blog by: Nick and Miller

Pressure washing deck at Community Center

Sorting clothing we brought for the Community Center

Preparing for VBS