Month 1 Review: Guatemala

 First month of the World Race has come to an end. Yesterday, at 3:30 am we said goodbye to one another and the teams split up and headed to different parts of El Salvador and Honduras.  My team along with two other teams, arrived in our second country (El Salvador) last night for the start of month two.  Our time in Guatemala was filled with a lot of amazing experiences and great ministry.
 
While in Guatemala, my team and I partnered with a local pastor named Arnold. He is the pastor of a church next to a school that he also runs. We spent this month doing several various projects around the school and for the members of the church.

 
(Our contact Arnold and his wife)

The first projects we did were to paint the outside of the school and to sand down the big doors at the entrance of the school. This was a good warm-up project for us and it allowed us to bond with Arnold as well as with one another.

 (Painting the school)

We then spent the next week building two stoves with Arnold’s nephew for some families from the church. This was awesome because I got use my manual labor skills to benefit the families as well as interacting with the families, especially the children.

(Anton, Arnold's nephew Minor, and myself with a finished stove)

 
(hanging out with the children of the second family we built a stove for. Love these kids so much!)

The final week in Guatemala was spent paining a world map mural at the school, teaching English, and running a VBS for the children. This was a nice relaxing week where we were able to really connect with the children of the school.

 
(Anton and I working on the mural with some of the students)

While in Guatemala, the full squad traveled to Lake Atitlan for a weekend. This was awesome where we got to grow closer as a squad and enjoy the beauty of Gods creation and the beautiful lake surrounded by volcanoes. The time spent there was filled with cliff jumping, swimming, laying in hammocks, and fellowshipping with one another.
 

(Some of the cliff jumpers at Lake Atitlan)

We then traveled to Antigua, Guatemala for debrief. This was a four-day process where we meet with our coaches and squad leaders to talk about the past month, recharge our batteries, and enjoy being together as a full squad for a few more days. We were even fortunate enough to one day while not debriefing; the squad was able to climb up to the top of Pacaya, an active volcano near Antigua.

 
(Johnny, Travis, and I on the top of the volcano)