Day 1 - March 3, 2011
12:40AM (Alaska Time) - Team departs Anchorage airport. Scheduled arrival in Guatemala City is 10:00PM local time.
We've made it to Houston; most people are catching up on sleep.
Good flights thus far.
Peace,
Joel Brown
Day 2 - March 4, 2011
Greetings from Guatemala City,
We arrived safely last night at 11:47 pm. All of our flights were on time and all of the luggage made it. We are staying at a hotel near the airport and will take a bus later this morning to San Pedro.
The group is getting along swimmingly... lots of laughter and encouragement. Breakfast is arriving as I write, so I will ask you to keep praying for our team that we will do a great job representing the Lord to those we meet in Guatemala.
Peace,
Joel Brown
Day 3 - March 5, 2011
We are in San Pedro and everyone is healthy and enjoying the people here. We had dinner at Colegio Bethel (the school started by Proyecto Fe) last night with the teachers. Each of us was paired with a teacher and our assignment was to get to know one another; at the end of the dinner we introduced our new friend and shared all that we had learned. As you can imagine, it was often comical due to facts lost in translation.
Today we begin the first day of training for Stove Building. This training will be done by Alaska's Emily Allen. She has been living and serving here in San Pedro for the last several months and in just a short time of us being here, we see that she is loved by all.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers that we would do a solid job of representing the Father's love to those we meet.
Joel Brown
Day 4 - March 6, 2011
Good Morning,
Yesterday was full of hard work, making new friendships, and for some, reestablishing past relationships.
From 9 to 1, we built stoves and took them apart and repeated the process several times over. Our trainer, Emily, was very thorough in her instruction and patient with our team. Some of us older particpants wrestled with having to know every little detail of the assembly and its purpose, but we got over ourselves pretty quickly...realizing we would gain a greater understanding as we just jumped right in.
The first part of the afternoon was spent moving a huge stove and oven up to the 4th floor of the school for the new kitchen. Another part of the crew cut and pasted plastic covers for the school desks. At roughly 3, the families that will be receiving the stoves showed up to the school and we spent the next several hours bonding with them. The families were represented by the lady of the household, and each of these women have been through the stove building training. So, we combined both the groups and then divided into 4 stove building teams. Each team built and disassembled a stove together several times over as well as learning how to provide proper maintenance on the stoves. To this point, this was the highlight for me. Our Alaska group jumped into meeting these ladies and having fun with them. Lots more laughter occurred during this process and lots of hugs given when the time came to an end. We will meet up with them in their homes on Monday to begin the stove installation process.
In the evening, we had dinner with families that have children sponsored by several of our team members. Sponsorship includes financial assistance so that a local kiddo can attend school, have proper supplies, and get other necessities important to getting to a good future. Not everybody that sponsors a child with Proyecto Fe has the opportunity to meet their child, so you can imagine how special this was. Lots of tears, more laughter, and words of thankfulness shared by the parents of these children to their sponsors. A very significant time indeed.
Today, we meet for breakfast, explore the town a bit, and then attend what I understand has traditionally been a marathon church service.
We remain well rested and healthy. No problems with the food... it has been delicious. Did I mention this team likes to laugh.
Thank you for the continued prayers.
Joel
Day 5 - March 7, 2011
Good afternoon,
We are doing well. Yesterday we were privileged to make visits to the homes of several school children. We spoke of our families and prayer requests and then prayed for one another. We were reminded that people wrestle with the same struggles even though they live in another part of the world, and people love their families with the same intensity that so many of us do.
The language barrier lessens each day.
The church service last night was good. We shared some songs we brought from Alaska, with the most imporant songs shared by our Mekoryuk teamates. They taught our team 2 songs in Cupiq. Their village of 200 is the last place in Alaska this language is taught and spoken, so it is considered a dying language; however, it was sung in Guatemala last night. Shara, Alyssa, and Jonathan led all of us in these songs and it was very well received by the church here in San Pedro. It was an honor for all parties involved.
This morning we are going through one more training in the building of stoves, and after lunch today we will receive our test. I am quite confident we will do well.
All remain healthy and in good spirits. If anything, some could use prayer that our sleep would be a bit more sound and restful. Each team member is representing Alaska and their families with hard work and love... you can be proud.
You are loved,
Joel
Day 6 - March 8, 2011
All is well in San Pedro. Today started at 6 am for Ben Heisler and Jonathan David. They went into the mountains to cut firewood for the families that receive the stoves. Word on the street is that a jaguar was spotted recently in the mountains, but unfortunately the boys did not see the animal. Everybody kicked booty on the stoves test, so we were pretty excited to get several built today. We met up with the families in the morning and all 3 families had their stoves in place and the top plates curing by the early afternoon. Evidently, the Alaska group has a solid reputation when it comes to getting the stoves built in a quality fashion. The HELPS International trainer brought this to our attention.
We got back to the school at roughly 2pm and and held a basketball, track, and football clinic. It was a blast. We will hold similar clinics for the next 2 afternoons.
The group has hit the tired stage. No real health issues. The energy associated with being in a new place has waned and the bodies are recouping. The group has met this minor bump with prayer and laughter, so kudos once again to the Lord and all of you that have taught us how to handle hardship in a healthy manner.
The annual basketball game at the school was another success for Alaska... particularly the girls... we have some serious athletes with us.
Peace and love from our hearts to yours,
Joel
Day 7 - March 9, 2011
Hello Family and Friends,
We ended yesterday evening tired but with much laughter... again.
John Brady and David Tandy were the wood cutters this morning and the rest of us installed 4 more stoves. The interaction with the families continues to be a blessing.
A bit warmer today but very pleasant to us. Give each other a hug after reading this and smile.
Peace,
Joel
Day 8 - March 10, 2011
What A Trip! Every time God´s children step out in faith he is so faithful
to show himself strong. The whole crew is doing well, today several people
including Joel woke up early to try their hands at making tortillas for the
youth at the school. Matt and Jacob were at the school by 6 oclock ready to
head up the mountain and cut firewood.
Kris Sperry was going to accompany them however he is feeling a little under
the weather and has been at the hotel resting for most of the day. Your
prayers for his speedy recovery are much appeciated! Pam, our missionary
lead, continues to make this trip wonderful. Racheal and Alex worked in the
bathrooms of the school for the first half of the day replacing door panels.
Many breaks were needed however due to the amazing amount of wonderful
Guatemalan kids to play with during their school breaks.
Tonight we present a stove top table to a woman in the community due to her
stewardship of the stove she has. We will also give a formal goodbye to the
teachers and women that we have worked with over the week. Over the course
of this week we have all had oppertunities to grow in our relationships
towards one another, towards the people of San Pedro, and God. It always
brings me such joy to survey the work that God has done in the lives of
those in our group, both over their lifetime and over the short time of the
trip. One thing is for sure, I know heaven will be something like this!!!
Please keep us in prayer for the next several days as we make our way back
to the United States. Also I want to thank you all for your prayers to God
for us, I know that you have been praying and I can't tell you how thankful I
am. God has and continues to be our stength and shield. To God be the
Glory!!!
Alex Foster
Day 9 - March 11, 2011
Peace,
This will be a short one as we will be jumping our boat in 1 hour.
All has been very good. Kris Sperry is officially on the mend and gaining strength slowly.
Lots of tears and hugs as we said goodbye to the kiddos at the school.
If you have never been on a mission trip, you should go. Can't think of too many reasons why someone shouldn't at least once in this lifetime.
We love you and look forward to your hugs and kisses late Saturday night.
Joel
Day 10 - March 12, 2011
1:10PM (Guatemala Time) Scheduled departure from Guatemala City. Scheduled arrival in Anchorage is 11:30PM
