Day 1 - November 17, 2011
12:40AM (Alaska Time) - Team departs Anchorage airport. Scheduled arrival in Guatemala City is 10:00PM local time.
Hello all,
We are safe in Hostal Los Lagos where we are staying for the night.
Everybody is happy and the trip was smooth. Our plane took off an
hour late, but we had no problems making any of our connections. They
only lost one of our tubs, but it was a Proyecto Fe one that we don't
need for this week. They have always been good about finding lost
bags. I'm sure it will be here tomorrow.
We are having breakfast at 8:30 tomorrow morning, departing on the bus
at 10 to make the drive to Chuajij. We will not have email access
there, but I will try to call Heather and have her email you
periodically. And remember, if you don't hear from us, no news is good
news.
Your kids did great on the way down and Pam assures us we are going to
have an amazing week. Thank you for your continued prayers, especially
for flexibility and good attitudes.
It is late here (1am). Good night.
Day 2 - November 18, 2011
Hi All,
Leo called today to let me know they all arrived safely. It's raining, but other than that all are healthy and doing well. They are getting settled tonight and being briefed as to their schedule for the remaining trip.
Day 3 - November 19, 2011
Hello,
Leo called and said all went well today. They were busy with various tasks. Some were helping with the construction site, while others were engaged in typical Guatemalan chores like chopping wood, making tortillas and washing laundry. Tomorrow they will do house visits and church. Everyone is well and they are getting along nicely so praise the Lord for that :)
Day 4 - November 20, 2011
Hi all,
It was another profitable day. They had good home visits and church went well. Leo said it was a semi-relaxing day which is great because starting tomorrow it will be work, work, work, until Saturday. No one is sick yet, and it sounds like they are having great discussions during devotions. That's all for today.
Day 5 - November 21, 2011
Another productive day. They did construction in the morning and then VBS in the afternoon. Everyone is well. Sorry so short tonight, but it was late and Leo was exhausted
Day 6 - November 22, 2011
Hi All,
VBS went especially well today. There were over 200 kids there and Leo said that they seemed to really get the mime more than any other VBS group and he was really impressed with their attention. They also got the chance to do some extra work alongside the local Guatemalan men working on extra construction. On a funny note, Leo told me that tonight while he was taking a shower a bat flew in the room and flew around in the bathroom with him for a while. Just a fun Guatemalan happening. I also asked him about the flooding and he said that they hadn't noticed it in the part of the country where they are. He did say that it was extra hot today, but that they are all still well and healthy.
Day 7 - November 23, 2011
Today was another great day. They worked hard at construction and VBS. It's getting much harder to pull details out of Leo. It usually does at this point in the trip. He is so exhausted by the time he calls me at 11 or so their time, that he doesn't really fill me in too liberally. He did say that the team is bonding well. He also asked for prayer for Pam, the missionary who is taking care of them. She is an extremely incredible woman who works unbelievably hard and never complains. He said she is having knee problems. She has had problems in the past, but in the past couple of days her knee has been aggravated and she's having to wear her brace and take breaks to ice it. For Pam this is very frustrating because she does not like to be slowed down and she has so many things on her to do list. The team would appreciate your prayers for her, both for healing, and for patience to deal with the frustration. Tomorrow is more of the same. They don't have a Thanksgiving celebration planned for tomorrow, but usually on Saturday they try to celebrate with some sort of Thanksgiving meal. Leo said he wasn't sure if they were going to do that this year, but the kids are so busy I'm sure they don't have much time to miss turkey and stuffing. That's all for today.
Day 8 - November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving all!
Leo said today went well with hard work doing construction and VBS. Leo told me that he found out that the money the team raised for building materials was only half of what was needed to get the project done. The church people and the villagers have been pooling resources all week, donating money, cement blocks, bamboo and other materials to supply the rest of the need. This is especially beautiful because these are people who have almost nothing, and yet they are doing whatever they can to help this project. He also told me that the men have been working late every night because they wanted to be able to have the building finished so that the team could leave with the project completed. The team is so very humbled that these men would work so hard in order that they (the ones who came to do the mission work) could see the finished product. What great lessons they are learning through the villagers!
Only 3 more days!
Day 9 - November 25, 2011
Not a very detailed report for today. The team is very tired and they are trying to finish their projects but the last day went very well. They all worked extra hard pouring cement to finish the ceiling on the building.
Day 10 - November 26, 2011
We are safe and sound in Guatemala City. It is late and most of them
are sleeping. Today was another good day, but much less strenuous than
yesterday. Today we went to Antigua and let the kids do some shopping.
Yesterday was an amazing day of incredibly difficult manual labor as
we mixed concrete and hauled it up to the top of a secod story
building. All hands were working at sprint pace for 4 hours. About
20-30 Guatemalans from the church were also there working alongside
us. It was a sight to behold. It wil remain in my memory a highlight
of all my trips to Guatemala.
Day 11 - November 27, 2011
12:40PM (Guatemala Time) Scheduled departure from Guatemala City. Scheduled arrival in Anchorage is 11:25PM
