It’s hard for me to believe that month one is over (its also hard to believe the Cubs won the World Series!! I think I’m still in shock! Go Cubs Go!), it went so fast! We left our time at “Heart of Christ” with a bang! We finished the cement floors in the village which was a fun but very tiring task! It was cool to work with the local people and help them in a very tangible way.
We ended our time at the Orphanage with a birthday fiesta! We helped Gracie celebrate some of the kids’ birthdays which included a piñata, cake, and lots of laughter! It was so cool and fun to celebrate with the kids. On Halloween the staff at “Heart of Christ” dressed the kids up in costumes and they paraded around to us which was so cute! My favorite was Diego’s duck outfit. The children also made us cards and wrote us verses as a way for us to remember them. The kids all handed us our cards and gave us big hugs. I’m keeping my card in my Bible which I got from Cristofer as a reminder to continue to pray for them. Leaving “Heart of Christ” was bitter sweet, it was hard to say goodbye to the kids I have loved for a month, but there was also lots of excitement about debrief in Antigua.
Debrief in Antigua was so many things! Our coaches and squad mentor came down to be with us and to spend some quality time talking with us a helping us process our first month. During debrief my squad got to explore the city, hike Pacaya Volcano (pic with the purple flowers is at the top of the Volcano!), try lots of food, and just experience Guatemalan culture for the first time. In the evenings we sent aside time for worship as a squad which ended up being some of my favorite moments of debrief. I loved Antigua it’s such a vibrant city full of color and stunning architecture, I hope to go back some day!
Month two-all Squad month!
I’m now at “Hearts in Action” in San Andreas Guatemala which is in the Mayan Biosphere. We are literally living in the jungle! “Hearts in Action” is large enough for all 31 of us to live in site which I think is super fun. “Hearts in Action” is a large campus it includes the Jungle School which is PreK-12th grade, a medical clinic, a large wood working shop, and they send out missionaries. The school year just ended here in Guatemala so there are no children here right now, so our job this month is to work on miscellaneous projects around campus. Suzanna our ministry host wants to try and make this campus more self-sustainable by growing their new small business so that they don’t have to fundraise as much. Also Suzanna has put us to work planting a new garden area (also helps with self-sustainability) organizing the children’s library, cleaning out closets, and building a high ropes course for future groups! This month looks like a lot of physical labor work as well as some village outreach! Pray that my squad stays strong in the jungle heat and humidity. I’m really loving all squad month and getting to know everyone better. Pray we grow as a squad and build deeper relationships with each other and God. Thanks for all the prayers an support!
P.S. some of my squad members are not fully funded, if you are interested in supporting them go to their blogs and hit the orange support button! I would hate to see anyone go home because of lack of funds! If you are interested in supporting them go to the left hand side of this page and click on their smiling faces! 🙂
