My wonderful parents dropped me at the Amtrak station at 5:00 am. We waited an hour for the late train. Said our goodbyes and I was off to Chicago for launch.
The train ride was pretty long and hard to sleep. I only had one seat to myself, versus the two I had the last time. Leaving only the option of sleeping while sitting up. Luckily I did end up with some foot room and a foot rest, as you can see.
Noah came in on a train just an hour behind me so I waited for him to travel to the hotel with me. We walked a few blocks to the blue line, got to O’Hare for the hotel shuttle and finally reunited with L squad!
Sweet Aroma had team t-shirts made for the race. Noah has a design friend who put them together for us. We looked so cool and united as a team at launch.
L squad getting back in touch with each other!
Crazy Tess!!!!!
Moriah, Christin, and Emily
How appropriate that this was the billboard outside our hotel in Chicago.
Going on our ATL (Ask The Lord) mission. God lead us to a man named John who needed prayer over his spiritual questions. Later he shared with us his ability to play the accordion. I pray that he seeks others to enhance his skill and finds community in it.
We prayed for John with another team, Joyful Feet, from K squad. God is so good and amazing how he brings people together for His glory!
Time to take the shuttle to O’Hare! We left Chicago around noon for a layover in Dallas.
Time to board the plane!
Don’t worry Amanda! There are tons of people praying for our safe travels. 
Marco, our gracious host, who met us at the airport. He wanted us to tell all of our supporters at home how much he appreciated us being here in Guatemala. They were so welcoming and cooked great food for us.
Loading the bus for our trip to Santa Cruz del Quiche. With all the twists and turns of the road I’m surprised none of our packs fell off the roof. All of us, minus 14 people, so 50 of us were squeezed into this bus.
It was tight, but there were smiles! We rode like this for about 4 hours. The seat Laura and I sat in was not attached so we did a bit of surfing through the mountains.
This expression on Christin's face, as she watches the scenery fly by, is exactly how I was feeling as I watched the same poverty. It made me realize exactly why God had brought us to this country.
Finally we arrived at Agape in Action! There is a hospital and clinic across the street that sees nearly one million patients a year. We are right outside the emergency room. Everyday there are family members waiting around for the injuried party to be cared for. Many come from miles away so they have no choice but to wait. We have a guard each day and night to keep anyone from rummaging through our tents.
It truly is beautiful here. The city is dirty, as are the people and their homes; but the food is wonderful and everyone is very kind. We are all so grateful for Agape in Action who has taken us in and given us so many luxuries this first month.
I promise that the next blog will show you my team's ministry for the month. We are working in some beautful mountains!
