Dear family and friends,
There are many reasons we like to blog when we are in Guatemala. One is to assure families of team members that we are alive and well; we are. Another is to share our experiences with interested friends and our many church supporters. We also use the blog to thank each of you for your support, donations, and prayers; they make a critical difference for us and Groundwork Guatemala and the hundreds of people they serve. Finally, we use the blog to communicate our realization that people around the world on the surface may appear to be different than us, but for the most part they are just like us. Their struggles for the most part are our struggles, and as any of us are raised up, we are all raised up. The Internet may connect the world, but the opportunity to establish face-to-face relationships with people outside our immediate surroundings is a gift for which we are extremely grateful. God has given us an opportunity this week to reach out to a brother or sister, and each of us is grabbing hold of that opportunity. Even before we have begun our work here, Guatemalans have reached out to serve us with friendship, Christian fellowship, and a sense of commonality. Those connections are what we want to communicate through this blog.
Most of the blog today was written in church this morning...I know that sounds suspect, but we joyfully participated in lively contemporary praise music and watched liturgical/interpretive dancing for 60+ minutes before the service really got underway. Once the service began, it was "all over" for those of us who have only mastered Spanish I. The Spanish was flowing faster than most of us could process it. So instead, we read any Bible references we could catch or journaled about the experience. I ended up reading the entire book of Colossians, which isn't very long; it turned out I had time to read a much longer book, but each of us used the time to watch what was going on around us or record our impressions. The experience was moving; we were treated as valued guests... hugged, kissed, and blessed by Guatemalans we had just met this morning. It was a humbling time together in worship. It was also a reminder that this trip blesses us as much or more than it does those we serve.
This afternoon we worked on our lessons and had an opportunity to go to a municipal park to play soccer or just take a walk. This is the only time in Guatemala we will have an opportunity to get out and "play". The park is filled stem to stern with soccer fields and armed guards. They took one look at us and we were relegated to a small grassy area where young children and mothers gather. I believe I heard a comment by a guard that only serious teams can use the fields. Our team has a college soccer player (Renee) and two high school soccer players (Sam and Kara); nevertheless, we pitted our best against Manuel's (Guatemalan ministry leader and driver) teenage boys. Some of us walked the perimeter of the park, which is cut from the top of a mountain with some fairly sobering vistas on three sides. We were accompanied by Kevin Holmes, one-half of the American side of the ministry staff, the other half being his wife Ginny. In addition to their work administering Groundwork in Guatemala, Ginny has taken it upon herself to cook for the teams that come to Guatemala. She is a master of delicious, nutritious, thrifty, and for the most part vegetarian meals. We are truly grateful for her culinary skills.
Tonight we gathered "upstairs" with Ginny and Kevin for an orientation meeting and a time to just talk about the experiences that will come this week. Some are a bit nervous, but all are looking forward to the experience. Sarah and I still have work to do on the adult lesson...what would a trip to Guatemala be without a last minute adrenaline rush? Laura and Jenna are working through the kinks in the children's lesson with the rest of the team. I wish I had photos today, but we are unable to carry our cameras because of the risk it creates for the team. Tomorrow Kevin will take photos for us and I will have the opportunity to upload them tomorrow night.
It is a great team of folks. We are enjoying each other's company and looking forward to a week of service and personal growth.
Thank you all for your continued interest.
Blessings,
Sally, Laura, Jenna, Sarah, Gail, Renee, Kara, Jeannie, Emma, Emily R., Emily C., Sam, Kelsey, Lonnie, Jordan, and Nick (Someone in this list snores and has been threatened by HIS roommates. I'll keep you posted on this situation as it develops.)
No comments:
Post a Comment