At about 4:00 this morning my team was awakened by a loud rumbling explosion. I sat up and immediately thought, “Earthquake.” But the ground was not moving so I thought, “We are being attacked with bombs or guns.” Then I saw the flashes of light and realized that one of our very close neighbors must be celebrating Fat Tuesday with fireworks. My pulse was racing and I could not fall back to sleep for a while as I listened to the people of Antigua celebrate.
I had my first day of Spanish class this morning. For four hours I was taught one on one. My teacher is 23 years old, so we got along really well and had a good time. She corrected my mistakes and taught me some new vocabulary. She explained that in Guatemala they use the word carro instead of coche to say car. Coche is used to refer to a pig or dirty person. I immediately thought back to a time when I pointed to a little boy’s toy car and told him I liked his coche. Now I know why he started laughing.
This afternoon we helped to clean the church and set up chairs for the service. We were so grateful for the opportunity to serve they church in a practical manner. They have handed us a key and are allowing us to stay in the building for the rest of our stay in Antigua. I am so thankful to God for their trust and generosity.
This afternoon we walked to a Christian school for underprivileged children called God’s Child. The school provides meals, education, and medical attention for families of need in the area. They also allow service teams to come in to build houses and provide an educational program for mothers. All of the funding comes from donors. The facility was beautiful. Our guide, Nancy, explained that they tried to incorporate water and vegetation throughout the area for a sense of peace and tranquility. About three buildings housed a school, offices, dental and medical clinics, a kitchen, dining area, basketball courts, and a stage. There were also plenty of slides, tunnels, and swings for kids to imaginatively play. My favorite part of the facility was the cave-like stone chapel. The entrance was a curved stone tunnel that led to a room with a waterfall, plants, and light shining in from the windows overhead.
After the tour we decided to sign up to volunteer, so Nancy put us to work right away. We went into a store room with dozens of huge sacks filled with donated clothing. We sorted the clothing into sizes, bagged them up, and put them with hundreds of already sorted bags. Nancy asked us to come back on Monday, so we left excited with yet another opportunity to serve.
