We are in our last week of ministry here at Los Gozosos in Chimaltenango, Guatemala! It has been a great start to our 11 month missions trip around the world, and we feel blessed to have been here! Our days have been quite varied even though there are some routines we've gotten used to (like 3 meals a day, and the daily chores we help out with). We've spent some days clearing the field next to the orphanage with machetes (here I am looking fierce)…
The reason we cleared the field is because robbers were hiding out in it and the orphanage had 8 robbery attempts before they built up their wall and added razor wire above it. They always had a guard, but now he is armed with a gun. Thieves would break in to steal tools or whatever they could take. Maureen has told us that everyone here knows everything about everyone else, and their saying here is "opportunity is permission". If you leave something laying out or if someone has access to it then they justify stealing since you weren't more careful. We know we can't prevent against every type of crime, because even since we've been here (the week before last) we had a scary incident. The principal of the school, Lissete, and one of the teachers were leaving to go home in the afternoon, and just outside our gate on the dirt road 2 men mugged them with knives. Their jewelry was stolen, including Lissete's wedding ring. It was very sad, but we are thankful they weren't harmed. Every night we hear a lot of load noises all around us, many of the sounds are fireworks and some are guns. Maureen told us that if you have a gun you want to shoot it off sometimes just so people know you have it. I feel pretty safe inside our walls, but the other morning at around 4:45 we awoke to very loud bangs which seemed to be just feet away. At first I thought it was someone banging on the tin walls near our tents, but then as it continued I thought someone was throwing fire crackers over the walls. One round went off then silence… then another round… silence… then some of started whispering "what is going on?" as Hugh grabbed a pipe to walk out to see. It was a surprise to find out is was actually the nannies setting off fire crackers (extremely loud ones!) for one of their birthdays! Lol It's a tradition here, but one we didn't know about… until now! 🙂
This is Hugh by one of the piles he burned. Shortly after this picture was taken he started to burn several piles in the field… so then he, Emily and I tried our best to keep in contained. We did well~ we did not catch the village on fire! 🙂
At the orphanage/school where we live we've had plenty of things to do to keep us busy. One of the things we help with is hanging up clothes/laundry. I find it to be very relaxing and kind of fun.
One of my favorite things to help with was going to the market with Marcelina. She bargains for fruits and vegetables, and then we help carry them. This is at the beginning of our walk… by the end our arms are full with either heavy bags or melons!
Of course, hanging with the kiddos is something we all enjoy! Here I am with Candy! I've learned a lot being here with these little ones. I've had people with disabilities on my flights (at work) before, but I've never spent a lot of time with kids with special needs. It has truly been a blessing to be apart of their lives and to get to know each one of them. Every single person we meet has an exterior that we can instantly draw conclusions about, but that's why life is so much richer when we get to know people and have relationships on a deeper level. It may sound cliche, but these kids really have taught us a lot about love and joy!
Two Sundays ago after church we took the kids to the mall in Guatemala City to ride the carousel. I helped with Nancy~ it was fun to get to be there with the kids to experience it with them!
A couple of our days here we ventured outside of 'the compound' to paint. One day is was at a pharmacy, and another was at the home where Maureen (the founder and director of Los Gozosos) lives. This first picture is of Wes and I when we painted at the pharmacy, and the second is when Sammie Jo and I made a bueno baño (bathroom) painting team at Maureen's casa!
One day our team sat together to watch some videos on slavery around the world~ it's estimated that right now 27 million people are trapped in slavery, many caught within the human trafficking (sex) trade. If you ever have a chance to google Christine Cain and watch some of her videos, it'll be worth your time. That afternoon we went on a prayer walk through the city. We went into the red light district where there's brothel after brothel.
We prayed through a barred window with a lady named Marie who was deaf and mute. From what we gathered she is trapped inside as a worker, and she lives above the brothel in a second story that has no windows. She seemed so happy for us to be with her and to have us hold hands and pray with her, and yet it was a helpless feeling to not be able to get her out of there. I know we can't rescue every person we'd like to, but I'm so glad that part of this trip is learning to know how we can help bring freedom to as many people as possible. I struggle with not being able to do more, but I also know that even with a language barrier we are spreading hope which can literally turn someone's life around. Hope can start off as a little flicker and turn into a huge flame. In the slavery videos we watched (they were from the Passion conference) we saw stories of people that were ready to give up and kill themselves rather than staying in slavery and abuse any longer~ but something happened in each of their lives that helped them continue on. We heard them tell about how they came to learn about Christ and the hope and freedom we have in Him, and because of it they chose not to take their lives and instead they either saw opportunities for escape and took them, and some others were rescued. On this day in Chimaltenango many of us prayed with Marie and I can only continue to pray that God does something amazing in her heart and life!
We have a attended different churches every week we've been here and it's been so great to experience the joy that so many Guatemalans have for the Lord! One day Sammie Jo, Emily and I went with Maureen to her lawyer's office and his encouragement to us was to see the people here for who they really are. They are truly beautiful people! Even though there is a lot of crime, the majority of people here are giving and kind. They love to serve and give of themselves and have a sweet spirit. I don't feel treated like an outsider here at all, but instead feel very welcome… when passing people on the street they give us warm smiles and it's fun to exchange friendly greatings. The children seem to be especially adorable here, and it's hard to not take pictures of all of them! Look at this little girl's outfit in this pic from a day we spent in Panajachel!
Besides our ministry work, we've also had some amazing days enjoying some of the beauty of Guatemala. One day we visited Antigua where two of the other teams from our squad are doing ministry. I got to hang out with some of my friends, including Suzy and Naomi! While we were sitting in a coffee shop in Antigua I felt my first earthquake! It felt like a rolling ship, and I got a little dizzy! I've always wanted to feel an earthquake (a minor one, of course!)… so *check*… that's off the list! 🙂
Another day, three of us ventured out to see the AMAZING and beautiful Lake Atitlan! It's surrounded by three volcanos and I heard it almost made the list of the top wonders of the world. It was a fun day with Rose and Stacy!
My teammates have posted some great blogs, so if you want to get a more complete perspective on everything that's been going on here, click on any/all of their links on the left side of my page. Our team is "God Before Us" and one of my favorite things about this month has been getting to know each of them better. Here I am with Emily, who I became fast friends with at training camp for The World Race back in October, and who I'm so thankful to be on the same team with!
Besides my own team of seven, we've been so fortunate to be here with "Night Vision", a team of six wonderful girls. We will miss them as we split up for El Salvador next month, but I know our friendships will continue on. Here I am with a my sweet friend, Alys, from the day we went to Antigua.
Some of you may be wondering about the food and other things we've experienced. As you've probably guessed, we've eaten a lot of beans and rice, but even the beans are not what you may be picturing. They cook them until they are in liquid form! Yep, runny beans! We've had a lot of other surprises, mostly good, thankfully. Our first meal here was fish sticks! That was one of my favorite foods when I was a kid. 🙂 Some of our overall favorite meals here were fried tilapia, sloppy joes, tuna, pancakes, and dobladas!!! Dobladas are the Guatemalan version of a fried meat pie. Another favorite food here of mine is 'pan dulce' which is sweat bread. Why we don't have it in the States is a huge question I have! Maybe I'll start a pan dulce shop when I get back! 😉
Living in a tent has been really awesome, and it actually makes me so excited to go camping more often when I get back! I'm really happy with the equipment, supplies, and clothes that I brought. We do have a washing machine to use here, but for conservation and courtesy sake we've done very little laundry of our own. Same with the shower… it's nice that we have it, but with so many people most of us average taking a shower once every 5-6 days (your hair really gets used to it and stays nicer for longer each time!)
Being here has really made me want to learn more Spanish. The little that I remember from my two years in high school and my many trips for work to Mexico and Costa Rica has gotten me by in some situations, but mostly I've just realized how much I don't know. One night I was doing dishes with one of the nannies and we tried having a conversation that ended with us both laughing as we just shrugged because we couldn't figure out what each other was trying to say!
Lastly, here's a video that my teammates, Wes and Hosanna, put together here at Los Gozosos. We leave early this Friday to go to the coast, and then our team will be going to San Vicente, El Salvador to help a man with a church he started. If you notice, our race route lists Honduras before El Salvador, but they got switched around. From what we've been told we'll probably have a couple other changes, too. We're going to Romania before Ukraine, and the African countries we're going to will probably be in a different order also. Most likely Cambodia will be our last country, so Asia will change, too! I'm so excited about things God has already done in our hearts and lives, and what He's still going to do. Blessings to you all, and thank you for your love and support!
Jo Linda
