Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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The last days of the Race…it’s so hard to believe that this journey is almost over. I haven’t done quite the job I wanted to writing blogs so I’ll go ahead and apologize for that but it looks like there can even be redemption in that…surprises to come!

So with all of this in mind I am going to make a conscious effort over the remaining days until I get home to write short blogs since I should have internet over the next few weeks and I am going to chronicle the daily adventures and what the Lord does is continuing to do here. It is such a beautiful thing to start coming to new places of dependency and intimacy with Him. I need Him…

Well no better time to start than the present right?

We are in beautiful Antigua, Guatemala and we have the opportunity to work with an organization called Hope Haven. The organization provides wheelchairs to children around the world and one of their main distribution centers is in Antigua. It has been such a blessing to be able to fit these children in their first wheelchairs and not only that but wheelchairs that are suited to their disabilities. Extremely rewarding to say the least. Another great thing about Hope Haven is that they are employing people at the factory who have disabilities which is such a blessing in their lives from the stories we hear because otherwise it’s difficult for them to find work. 
 
(At the factory during one of the wheelchair distributions)
This morning we headed out on our 5 minute walk to the factory and when we got there we just helped them check in some of the new inventory and arrange some of the new equipment that came with a shipment from the States last week. The very first thing I did was move a box which happened to have a coffee mug in front of it and it would have broken on the ground had it not been for my foot. Lesson for the day = “Don’t wear sandals to the factory”.  

I’m starting to make friends at the factory and I am now dubbed “Gerrardo” because, as it is in every country, Garrett is too hard to pronounce. The people there are some of the happiest people I’ve met on the race and they absolutely love their jobs. One of the perks to working and even volunteering at Hope Haven is the post-lunch wheelchair basketball games. 

After rearranging the shop they wanted us to “roughly” count all the nuts, hex bolts, carriage bolts, barbed t-nuts, washers…you get the picture. 13,208 nuts, 6345 hex bolts, 4994 carriage bolts, 8044 barbed t-nuts and 24,586 washers later we finished that little project up, and though these numbers look precise it can still be assumed that they were “roughly” counted. (We implemented some deductive reasoning, statistical methodology, and informed guessing) After all this was finished we came back home and they let me drive the van which is the first time I’ve driven since…Kenya, good thing expired licenses mean nothing here! (Mom I know you’re reading this and I’m just kidding, I have 8 whole days of legal driving left)

That’s about it for today. One of our teammates, Kris Tippett went home yesterday and we found out her boyfriend proposed to her at the airport so we’ve been stalking online to see the pictures. (Hint Hint Ms. Tippett) and we convinced the girls to let us watch a baseball game and they learned what the term extra innings means…don’t think we’ll be able to watch another one.