We had a group of 10 individuals come from Trinity Lutheran in Richmond, VA last week. Randy Ronning was their leader and much of his family came with him- wife- Kay, daughter- Emily, and son Andrew. There also was Jim- Emily's boyfriend (they teach together in Korea), Wayne, Evelyn, Christina, Marsha, and Nadia.
Their first full day in Guatemala they spent at the Copan Ruins in Copan, Honduras. This site lays hold of the remnants of an ancient Mayan civilization dating back a few years before Christ and ended around 890 AD. We had a lot of fun getting our guided tour their and learning more about the history of Central America.
Sunday, we went to El Oratorio, which is in between two little towns that I have worked previously- La Avanzada and El Progreso. We held a service there in the grade school's covered patio. We invited leaders from both Progreso and La Avanzada to come to this service. It was the first time that these three villages had ever come together to worship (or for any reason for that matter). It was a phenomenal event. At first I was a little worried, on account of us arriving to an empty forum. But I soon found out the reason for this was that we had scheduled our service at the same time that the Catholic Church was having their service. We waited and sure enough they all came afterwards and we ended up having close to 100 people in attendance.
We prayed, praised, and gave thanks for all the things that God has done and has yet to do in our lives. We were received very well by the village, and Ancelmo (president of the community board) had some very touching words to say which I butchered through translation- the message still loses a bit of its tenderness when I translate.
We had a torrential downpour on Sunday night that hit us hard for most of the night. We woke up to find out that the only bridge that could carry us to Oratorio had been destroyed in the flash flood. So we were forced to stay in Gualan- where the team was staying. This turned out to be a blessing however. Miriam- the owner of Hotel Miravalle had a sister who died on Sunday afternoon. We all attended her funeral on Monday- which was as interesting an experience as ever. If you want to hear more about it, contact me because I don't have enough time to write it down right now.
The bridge was out for a couple of days so we ended up changing our plans a little bit- which made me kind of sad but here in Guatemala you learn to just roll with the changes- there are few things that you can count on here. Instead of going to Oratorio to do our VBS and construction we went to San Pablo- another work site similar to that in Oratorio. We worked construction and did our VBS on Tuesday and Wednesday there. The team from Virginia just rolled with the punches and did not complain one bit about the change of plans- really a great group.
We did get to go to Oratorio on Thursday- a bit of a treacherous journey on account of the mudslides left by the heavy downpours. But we made it! We did our VBS for the grade school kids there and they were very well behaved young children. I got to meet their director and I mean to tell you, this man really knows what he's doing. The kids there in Oratorio looked healthier and were doing better in school than the the neighboring villages. Also, their facilities looked sufficient and clean. I asked Ramiro why this is and he told me that this director demands things from the government for his students and teachers. He is very organized and writes letter after letter to the department of education for supplies and resources and he gets results- go figure! His kids get lunch every day at school- with Incaparina- which is a protein supplement that really meets a lot of the kids' needs physically. Whenever he addresses his kids they all shut up immediately and give him all their attention- awesome!
The VBS went really well and we then went over to dedicate the house for Aparicio, Teodora, Rodrigo, and Santo. Aparicio and Teodora are the grandparents of Rodrigo and Santo. Rodrigo and Santo's mom died a few years ago from pneumonia possibly and her last request to her sons is that they stay and take care of her parents. Rodrigo is 19 and Santo is 13- they are complying their mother's request and now have a brand new home to live in.
I gave a brief message and we dedicated the house. The family was very thankful for the house. Our only regret- on both sides of the project (Americans and Guatemalans) was that we didn't have more time to spend together.
I have to tell you about just this last week but that will have to wait for another day.
Prayer Requests:
- Families receiving homes- that of Aparicio (El Oratorio) and of Haroldo (San Pablo)
- CALMS team here in Guatemala- Ramiro(coordinator), Nills (translator), Karla(translator), Spongbob (driver), and myself- we have been working pretty much non stop, sun up to sun down (and past), every day of the week and the end is not in sight yet
- Lutheran church in Zacapa and Gualan- that God would raise leaders
- Teams that are traveling to and from Guatemala
Thanks for reading! God Bless!
P.S.- I did get to go to the beach in the South of Guatemala with my host family last weekend- Que Bonita! It was Reynaldo's bithday present- he's 50.
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