I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since we’ve been in Guatemala. Today is our last day here as we head for Honduras tomorrow morning. We were in Puerto Barrios this month, about 6 hours from the capital, working with Casa Verde Ministry. Paul and Mama Hilda were our hosts for the month and have been great with setting up everything for us from housing and food to the ministries we’ve been able to help out with. This month we’ve been able to help out with:
Escuela de Educacion Especial de Izabel – There is a Special Needs school about 1.5 miles from where we are staying. We helped out there on the Monday and Tuesday after arriving. The students were still on Winter Break since it’s my understanding that this is their only extended break of the year (they do not get a summer vacation and their school year starts in January). In preparation for the new school year, the teachers needed help with painting, cleaning out the storage units, clearing the fields from the construction that was being done, and getting the school in a safe condition for the students.
Nursing Home – We’ve only been to the nursing home once but we were able to spend time with the folks that were there, and even played BINGO with them! They seemed to have a great time with it! Sometimes I struggle with doing outreach with the elderly because I’m not use to being around older folks since my grandparents are all in Nigeria, where my family is from. I know God is definitely wanting to grow my heart in this area.
Children’s Hospital – We visited the children’s hospital a couple of times. The first time we brought coloring books to kids at the hospital and got to spend time with them. I began singing (not very well) to the little girl I was spending time with and was able to put a smile on her face. The second time we visited the hospital I was with a little girl named Vanessa and another named Alayme (spelled something like that I think). These two girls did not know each other but had beds next to each other and both happened to be in the hospital for machete injuries. This time I brought a deck of cards with me and taught them how to play “Go Fish” which they absolutely loved!
The Dump – There are several families that work at the City Dump, going through the trash and looking for recyclables in order to sell for a little bit of money to be able to provide for their families. As you can imagine the families that work at the dump are extremely poor so when they find food while sorting through the garbage, they eat it. Every Thursday Casa Verde has 150 plates of food donated from a local factory which they take to the people who live/work at the City Dump and feed them. Children are fed first, them women, and then men. One day my team even went to the Dump to work alongside the families, sorting through the trash with them and living as they do for the day. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to go as I had been little sick and had to take a visit to the local hospital. But don’t you worry, the doctor prescribed me some meds and I now feel much better!
The Park – There is a Park that we go to in Santo Tomas (about 20 minutes from where we stay) every Sunday evening. There is always so much going on at the park from basketball games to soccer, break dancers dancing, and people hanging out. The first time we went I met a guy named Raul who knew English really well so we got to chat for a while. He was a 3rd year University student studying Business Administration (whoop whoop for business majors!). We got to talking about our faith and he admitted that he really gets frustrated with religion because of all the rules and control. I got to share with him that God’s heart is not about rules, but about wanting what’s best for us, and unfortunately sometimes that gets misinterpreted and misrepresented by people.
I also met a 9 year old boy named Jorijan who invited me to play soccer so I spent the remainder of the evening playing with him and some of his friends.
Orphanage – The orphanage Casa Verde helps out with is 20 minutes away and has maybe about 20 children that live there. For the most part the kids there are so full of life and are a whirlwind of fun. I got to help out with the toddlers while we were there. They were really shy and not wanting to do anything at first. But after singing a few songs for them like the Spanish version of “I got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart” they warmed up to us a little bit, and eventually let us pick them up and play with them.
Church/Street Evangelism –We’ve been able to work with several churches in the Puerto Barrios/Santo Tomas area. We’ve done many prayer walks in the various neighborhoods and have been able to meet, pray for/with and encourage many people. It’s been really cool because we get to do intercession for the city and share with people about how much God loves and cares for them. God has really been reminding me how much He speaks to us, and how much He’s wanting to do through us while on this trip.
Our days this month were pretty jam packed but it was a great way to start off the Race! We got to help out with so many areas and meet so many great people! My team was with Team Petrichor and Team Aldephoi this month, and ended up working alongside two YWAM teams on their DTS outreach (one from Mazatlan, Mexico and the other from Belize). I could not have asked to be teamed up with a better group of people!
