Its only been 10 days since I left home. How is that possible? I feel like a year of my life has already passed! Wow! So I spent a week learning about film, and cameras, and how to use them, and how to tell a story through film, and how to conduct an interview, and how to be interviewed! Blech my mind exploded!! Then we had a weekend at a nice hotel in Atlanta to “Launch” off on this adventure! That again felt like a year! But then Tuesday came and we boarded a plane for Guatemala!
Around 12:30pm, Guatemala time, we landed in Guatemala City. It was neat to look out the window and see the green rolling hills passing underneath, and in every direction. Dispersed among the trees were small shanty houses and some big ones. The “city” appeared small below and appeared out of nowhere! All of a sudden, amongst the shanty shacks, were these tall sky scrapers, that were old and looked broken down. We filled out our customs forms, got our 55 people and their bags onto these really nice busses that were like Greyhounds! Roomy cushy seats, and air conditioning!! They told us we would be taking a “chicken bus” (yes you heard right!) But God was gracious to us and we did not have to take a Chicken Bus for 6 hours up a twisty windy terrain! We did have these cozy busses though! I put my headphones in, looked out the window, watched the land pass by, and thanked God for bringing me here safely!
We made it to our ministry in Quiche (pronounced Key-chay) around 6pm. It started pouring rain right before we got there! Yay for us! We got to Agape in Action campus! They are down a street that is just piles of dirt and a trench, because they are redoing the pipes! It is a hospital, the only one for the region, that the organization runs. They have a facility to the side of the hospital that we are staying in. There are bathrooms and showers (hallelujah!) but we are sleeping in tents, and it is rainy season! Oh well!
We have been here for four days now! It feels again like a year! The first day we got a tour of the whole town and went through the market! Its interesting being here. We have gone to town and through the market so many times, and I just feel like I belong here already! Its not scary at all! I love it! The people wear beautiful traditional clothes! The clothes are expensive but they buy one and wear it for years!! So it adds up in the end! We started our ministry yesterday!
My team, team reptar, we are working at a home for kids with special needs! I love it already! The kids are amazing! They are so sweet and today we just spent the whole day dancing with them and had lunch there! They are so beautiful! On September 15th, Monday, is the Guatemala independence day! So on Monday we actually get to wear the traditional clothing and march in the parade with the kids!! I am so excited!! This month is going to be great, and I’m excited to see what God has in store!
