(Sorry! I wanted to post some pictures but the internet connection is way too slow, so I will try and post some more on facebook and when I finally get a good connection I will post some pictures up!)
Last week was our full final week in Lacama 2 (apparently there are two other Lacamas
J and our is the second one) and we only have about 2 or so days left. We head out Wednesday to Pastor Carlos’ (our main contact) house to rest and relax for a day or so until we head to Guatemala City to meet up with the rest of the squad and start our way to Nicaragua.So here is what went on this past week:
Day of Rest: Team Increase went with the Pastor and his family to the beach on Monday, which was about 4 or 5 hours away and my team just wanted a day to relax. So we decided to stay put and it was nice to sleep in (even if it was only a half an hour longer than normal J) and just spend some time reading my Bible and listening to some worship music. It was nice to spend some alone time with just my team and not have any agenda but to take a nice warm shower J! Each day I spend with my team, the more I love them and see how much God has gifted them with! I cannot wait to see what happens over these next 10 months with them!
Revival: Tuesday was one busy day!!!! Worked in the morning then went to the river with some of the guys who have been helping build the church to get some sand for the cement. We were told that while the guys worked, we should just relax and kick a soccer ball around J– so we did just that. We helped when we could but it was nice to take in the beauty around us and to joke around with the guys that were digging up sand. One of the older men even came and played some volleyball with us and loved Matthew so much that he was always wanting Matthew to help him out with stuff! Later that night we went to a revival! It was a little tiring and difficult due to not knowing what was going on for the 4 hours that we were there, but once again hearing them pray and sing was such a blessing. Our pastor gave a message there and Chelsea and I were in the front row J and I could see the tears on his cheeks when he was praying. All of their music sounds the same but there is so much heart behind it all! They saw that us Americans were cold so the other team went into a room with blankets and my team went into the kitchen J It was nice to somewhat chat with the two ladies and kids that were back there and to warm up by the stove. Afterward they had some hot chocolate for everyone and some bread!
Graduation: Two of Pastor Manuel’s sons graduated this Friday- one from 6th grade and the other from high school. They invited us to come to the high school graduation and it was such a blessing to be included in this major event and we felt like family! Their graduation ceremony is so different from back in the United States, but to see the fathers giving their sons hugs and tears streaming down their cheeks almost made us cry! It is a major mile stone to graduate from high school here and it was an honor to be apart of this big event!
The church construction is going well. We moved a ton of cinder blocks twice on Monday and have been sifting sand for them to use for cement over the past couple days. The one really cool thing I got to help out with this past week was to help put up part of the foundation! Katie and I helped put up a section of the wall, or part of the foundation (still not quite sure how the church is going to look), and it was so cool to help put up the foundation of the church!!! They hope to finish the church by next October and hopefully they will email us some pictures of the finished thing!!!
Next week we plan on doing a worship service at the church site and will hopefully be able to post something about it or at least some pictures next time we have internet!
