jueves: Thankfulness

Dear family and friends,

Trinity, you have been thanked. All day long, you have been thanked.  All week long you have been thanked by Guatemalan teenagers and their mothers.  The 14 high school students Trinity sponsors are genuinely grateful for the opportunity to attend a good high school.  Their mothers who get what that education means for their child and their family's future are profoundly thankful for all of you. My response was the problem.  I really did not know what to say because as usual, they were unknowingly teaching me something I should have already known, and that was, first and foremost, thank God. All day long, as we had the opportunity to talk with these kids and their mothers, it was "Thank God," first, "Thank your church," second. At the same time, I was struggling with what to say in response: "There is no need for thanks," or "Your hard work is the only thanks we need," or even, "you're welcome." I started listening to them and realized, once again, they were teaching me. I had all day to get it right and finally settled on, "Thank God, we are 'blessed to be a blessing'."
I hope this makes sense, but these Guatemalans who have so little, always thank God first and then the secondary giver, secondarily.  It was a whopping important reminder of the source of all blessings.

Our day was spent in Amatitlan. (Sorry, I don't know how to put the accents in on this keyboard.) Amatitlan is not as large as Guatemala City but shanties and homes are wall-to-wall cement block and corrugated metal on its narrow streets. The population density is high. It was there we spent the morning visiting with the families of some of our personally sponsored children. Lauren, Alaina, Adam (on behalf of Emily and Blake), and I had the chance to sit and talk with Maria, Kimberly, Victor, and Joel in their homes. We talked about everything . . . favorite foods, favorite subjects in school, favorite Bible passages . . . yes, I know there is a pattern here. It is hard because none of us is fluent in Spanish, but we persevered with the help of translators. It was equal parts stress and wonder.

There were lots of highs this afternoon.  Megan got to spend some time with Anna and Julian during their medical clinic, and I got to watch Megan's face when they pulled a winged mosquito (Is that a thing?) out of a woman's ear. I suspect Megan will make an excellent doctor, but she may need a little work on her bedside manner/reactions. By the way, the other ear had a seed pod in it. And every mothers knows that stuff happens in the U.S., too. Dylan and Megan had near record attendance at the teen faith lessons, 57, and there were almost 200 at the children's lesson, and I would guess between 150-175 at the adult lesson. Mona and I finally found our groove. We had a wonderful time with the adults. Alaina and her fearless music/dance leader, Lauren, along with Lexi, Ryan, Marisa, and Adam rocked the kid's lesson and the soccer ball. We were working in different parks. These parks have no grass; they are just a square of cement between cement block houses on either side, but they come alive as hundreds show up for faith lessons and the clinic. Tents are erected, molded, plastic stools strategically placed, a microphone jimmy-rigged, attendance taken, and away we go.

Today is a hard day to describe. Admittedly, as the week progresses, it gets harder and harder to find the presence of mind to write. We are tired, but really not that tired. We are somewhat emotionally spent but still completely engaged. I think this is my way of saying I can't describe places today, just a feeling of thankfulness, to God, first, and to all of you, the Guatemalans, and the ministry, second.

Blessings and good night,

Adam, Ryan, Marisa, Lexi, Dylan, Alaina, Megan, Lauren, Mona Lisa, and Sally