Sunday in Guatemala

                                                       Ministerios Sendero de las Crus

Where to begin?  Ministerios Sendero de la Cruz is "a happening". It is a store front church that opens into a more voluminous room that contains a stage of sorts, straight-backed chairs, and warm, welcoming Guatemalans.  We were  graciously ushered to the front rows despite the fact we would block the view of everyone seated behind us as we are extremely tall compared to most Guatemalans.  The service was about two hours long, about an hour of which was praise music with liturgical dancers that ranged in age from about 6 to 36, all with choreographed movements and tamborines.  It was a spontaneous yet well directed service.  At each transition the congregation erupted into applause after prayers, songs, announcements, and even the offering.  I thought that was interesting...you have to go to the front to give an offering and when everyone has made the trip to the front, the congregation applauds.  Interesting.

We all took away different amounts of the message depending on the degree to which we understood Spanish, but there were many opportunities to follow along in the Bible and we seized those moments to "get with the program."  I believe Phillipians 4: 4-9 might sum it up.

After one of Ginny's near famous grilled cheese sandwiches and tortilla chips, we spent the afternoon fine tuning our lessons, perfecting our Spanish lyrics/music, and practicing our skit.  The skit comes from the book of Ruth and there were many funny moments primarily because Gordy is Boaz in the skit, and he carries himself like he is Caesar; he a good actor but a little type-cast, he seems to enjoy his approach so we are going with it.  Riley who is 13 is Ruth his intended wife...well, you can start to see the humor...let's just say Gordy is not 13, so it was really funny.  It turns out Andrew was born to entertain and he and Michael have a "death" scene that is Oscar worthy.  Emma and Emily whipped our songs into shape, and Bruce has a narrator's voice that is equal to James Earl Jones.  Everyone contributed in their own way, but acting honors go to Katherine, as Naomi.

After dinner we continued to practice and ended the evening unloading supplies, sorting, counting, and boxing with the precision of, well, let's say an unnamed, retired military individual. (He's a keeper!)  Photos are found below.  We also had to melt the ends of 250 cords for an adult craft,
and Jeannie, Sam, Gordy, and Michael "took one for the team" doing that.  There is a possibility they no longer possess finger prints.

We had lots of opportunities to bond today, and we did.  Age is irrelevant here; it is all about living the faith and doing it to the best of your ability.  We are giving it our all.

Blessings and good night,
Katherine, Riley, Kelsey, Andrew, Emily, Emma, Sam, Jeannie, Gordy, Michael, Rachel, Bruce, and Sally


This tienda (store) and panaderia (bakery) is across the street from the
mission house.  The photo was taken this morning from the roof.

This was the finger burning exercise.

Unpacking Supplies and More