First picture after arriving in Guatemala!
We are in the mountainous state of Quiché staying in a town called Santa Cruz del Quiché. The bus ride from Guatemala City to Quiché was about 4 hours going up and through the Guatemalan mountains. We have a wonderful host, Agape in Action. They are graciously allowing 60 of us to set up tents on their property and use their facilities. Agape in Action is a ministry that works with teams of doctors, nurses, and dentists that go into the Mayan villages for clinics as well as partner with the Hospital across the street. The weather has been rainy with lows around 56 (but I think its much colder than that – I am so incredibly thankful that I brought a 25 degree sleeping bag but wishing I would have thought about a sweatshirt) and highs of about 75 degrees. Sleeping in my tent hasn’t been horrible but the occasional flooding doesn’t excite me in the mornings.
Agape in Action with all of our tents!
I am constantly being reminded that having expectations is a waste of time and mind space. My expectations have been blown out of the water by God’s creation and my idea of what ministry would look like. This month’s has looked extremely different than I had ever anticipated; it has been a pioneering experience for Adventures in Missions and The World Race. My team and I have been challenged with the mission of identifying and discovering the Unsung Heroes of Guatemala. You are probably wondering what the heck is an Unsung Hero? An Unsung Hero is someone doing the work of God’s Kingdom to serve and meet the needs of the people or a group of people in their community. These people are typically not recognized for their work but our hopes are to provide them some recognition by singing their song (lets hope that they don’t ask me to do the singing!) and providing them with some support by sending a future World Race team to help them expand their ministry and ultimately the Kingdom!
Working hard in the “war room”
I have found myself helping out in the kitchen quite a bit which is pretty funny as I am no chef! It has been a fun, interesting, and challenging experience buying the groceries at the Despensa Familiar and market. Cooking for 65 people everyday for breakfast and dinner is another challenge in itself but it has been a learning experience for us all. I am thinking I should have learned some more cooking skills from my uncle before I left. Below are pictures of buying chicken from the carneceria and of Vacenta and I making some delicious homemade limeade with the limes that were picked from the lime tree in the garden.
Here are some facts about the country of Guatemala:
- Though Guatemala has a low unemployment rate at just over 3 percent, 56 percent of the population still lives below the poverty line.
- Children and adolescents are vulnerable to high incidences of violent crime.
- Malnutrition affects almost half of the children under the age of 5.
- Guatemala is the 4th most malnutritioned country in the world.
- Many children do not finish school and many remain illiterate.
