Two weeks down in Guatemala. This month is our “All Squad” month, which means our entire squad of six teams is located at the same place. We have 3 ministries we are doing so two teams are paired up and we do a different ministry each week (we only have 3 weeks here since we had our first debrief for a week in Antigua at the beginning of the month). We are living in our tents but have access to indoor bathrooms, showers (with hot water), and a kitchen where we prepare our own meals.
My team is paired with team Courageous Love (check out their blogs-they’re awesome!) and our first week of ministry was working with a local pastor. It has been a great start to the month. Our first job was clearing a field where the church conducts Vacation Bible School (VBS). They currently only have a small lot adjoining a field and over 120 children attended by the end of their last VBS. The field had weeds and plants chest high, large ditches, and was situated on the side of a mountain. We thought we were going for orientation Friday and a quick overview of what work needed to be done. When we arrived, the pastor asked if we had work gloves (um, no.) and said, “Let’s get started!” Thankfully, the plants were very shallow and the topsoil gave away easily so by then end of the day we had all the undergrowth gone (via a “controlled” burn…but that’s another story itself).
Monday, we brought gloves and the pastor brought some hand tools. Initially, the translation was skewed and we thought he wanted the hill level like the lot next to it, which would require at least three to four feet of vertical digging at the top of the hill. We looked at the hand tools he brought and froze. After clarification, our task for the rest of the week was to even out the land into a smooth slope (much more achievable!). We actually finished the field after two and a half days so this morning the pastor asked us to go to the school the church runs and help with the kids and maybe teach English. When we got there this morning, plans changed and we ended up acting out the story of Noah’s Ark for each of the classes. It was fun and the kids were great. We got to play tag and soccer with them at recess as well. Tomorrow, we’re going to another location to start a new job for the church but we’re not sure what it is so we’ll be ready for anything.
Courageous Love is a great group of people and we’ve had a lot of fun getting to know one another during our first week together. Next week we’ll be working at the hospital and the last week we’ll be at a daycare. It’s beautiful here and the Mayan heritage is visible everywhere. A lot of people here speak K’iche (the Mayan language) instead of Spanish and many of the women still wear traditional, colorful woven skirts. They are incredibly friendly. I can’t wait to see what the next couple of weeks here brings.
Thank you so much for your love and support!
