We're alive! I plan to get more in depth later about our time here (we've only been here 1 week, after all!), but here's a quick recap of our travel and a glimpse into what this month will be like:
Our flight left Atlanta at 7:45 am, so we had to start leaving our hotel at 3:30 , taking the shuttle in shifts to the airport (it takes 59 people a long time to check in and go through security!). We had a layover in Miami before our 2 hour flight to Guatemala City, and from there we piled our bags in and on top of one van while the rest of us rode in 3 vans and a bus to Quiche, Guatemala, approximately 4 hours away from Guatemala City.
(Pictures are coming soon, I promise! Internet connections can be a bit slow around here…)
So back when I heard we were going to Central America, I thought it would be hot and humid the entire time, so I didn't pack a lot of warm weather clothes. I even left my jeans at home. But as it turns out… I was wrong. We're up in the mountains at about 7,000 ft, so it gets pretty cold at night, especially when you're sleeping outside in a tent. I actually really love the temperature and the frequent rain – it's a lot like camping in Colorado in the summertime.
Our whole squad is together this month, and we're all staying with a local ministry (Agape in Action- check them out on facebook!) whose main focus is an orphanage and medical missions. We're actually staying in the medical compound, so there are a lot of locals waiting around for their family members in the hospital as well as some other nurses, doctors, and dentists from America that are also joining in the medical missions. Our teams are spread out between a few different ministries: school/daycare work, construction/manual labor, working at the orphanage, and assisting however they can with a clinic in the area.
My team is currently partnered with another team at a local government funded school/daycare. We mostly help out with lunch and with the second half of the day when they do activities with the kids. We play games with the kids, prepare skits and VBS-type activities, hold the babies and help keep them entertained, and help the staff in any way they ask us to. We're also helping them build a small playground with a swing set, a seesaw, a slide, bucket tunnel, and tires.
Aside from ministry, we've been to the market a few times, tried to barter in broken Spanish (seriously… everyone should pay WAY more attention in high school Spanish), and done a LOT of walking around Quiche.
I can already tell that the Lord is working something big in me through this journey. He told me on the 4 hour drive from the airport to Quiche that He is going to teach me about Himself through His people around the world. Even during the week we've been here I can see Him fulfilling His promises and helping me step into the freedom, joy, strength, life, confidence, and boldness He's created in me. He is SO good to His children, and He is indeed our loving Heavenly Father.
