Day 3: The Fellowship had an interesting Thursday!

Sorry for the really late post! Life is crazy over here and finding time to write is like trying to wax a Chihuahua - not easy.

So Wednesday was a pretty exciting day for us in Sumpango! Mornings at the hotel are fun, but we miss American breakfast food and being able to sing in the shower.
Breakfast at the hotel was fun. The music the hotel plays is a random mix of songs, and we heard "Playing with the Queen of Hearts" and "Wake me up before you go go." Fun times! Amy laughed and sang along.

We headed to the church right away, and split into our respective groups. Hannah, Kelly, and Amy went on home visits, and Rachel, Lorelei, Amanda, Jessica, and Stephanie ran VBS.

Dana had an awesome opportunity to use her chiropractic skills! Betty had let people know that Dana was going to be at the church during the morning on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Ten to twelve people showed up and Dana got to do adjustments on them. Everyone carries heavy loads around in head baskets here - that's the culture, and as a result, there are TONS of back issues. One woman came in whose arm had been completely numb, on and off, for a year and a half! Dana is planning to work on people every day this week, including that woman, in hopes of lessening a lot of pain. God is really using her skills!

The two hours at the church doing VBS were really fun! Despite the language barriers, kids will be kids :) . We love working with them! Bérnabé is an excellent translator! He is one of the pastor's sons who loves working with children. Rachel and I both gained new limbs! Mine's name is Samuel, and he's two. He's adorable! Rachel has two, and we couldn't get either of their names, but it was super cool. Stephanie is great crowd control, and we need that!

One little girl has been coming to the VBS events all summer, and she is scared of white people, so she immediately started crying, and it didn't seem like she would calm down. Once Rachel started to talk to her, she stopped crying, latched on to her and wouldn't let go! It was really amazing!
Lorelei did an excellent retelling of Moses Parting the Red Sea! The kids' attention span sort of held, but that's ok! They heard God's word, which does not go out void. Lorelei is getting a little sick of telling the story. Only one more time at the orphanage Friday and then she's finished! Pray that she will survive telling it again :P

Hannah and Kelly and Amy went on a home visit to a family where the son had a testicular hernia, and the Dad is somewhat of an alcoholic. Christina was the name of the woman who they mainly talked to, and God is so good! Pastor Marvin shared the gospel with her, and she accepted Christ! They prayed for her son, and Pastor Marvin asked if she wanted to accept Christ. Her heart was ready, and she prayed with them! THAT'S THE REASON WE CAME! To share with people and bring the gospel! How awesome is that!

After we left the church, we all went on a home visit to a house at the edge of town. The husband was not present, as per usual in Guatemala. The woman had four children, all of whom were running underfoot. She could only have been in her mid-30's, but she looked far older. At first guess I thought she was about sixty! Any explained later that because life is so hard here, many of the women look a lot older than they are.
Pastor Marvin shared some verses with her (I think from Romans), and really encouraged her to come to church, and he shared the gospel with her. She was not very outwardly responsive, but we trust that the Lord will work in her heart! Dora, our translator, then asked if there was anything we could pray for, and then her heart seemed to open up. She has a one-year-old baby, and he was just covered in a rash. She said it wasn't an allergy, but Dr. Dana and Amy, chiropractor and occupational therapist, respectively, both thought that's what it was. We then prayed for her. In closing, we sang "Tu Eres Todo Poderoso," or "You are Very Powerful." Stephanie, who had almost no knowledge of Spanish before the trip, was the only one who had practiced the song and knew it well. She even harmonized! The rest of us were put to shame. After saying goodbye, we left. The pastors will return, but the Lord will be the one to change her heart!

On the way back to Betty's house for lunch, Jorge drove really close to the edge of a cliff to scare Amanda, but she was not amused! Amanda and Jorge are comic relief for the team when we drive :P :) .

Lunch at Betty's was a pleasant affair. We had Guatemalan hot dogs, with tortillas instead of bread, rice with the meal, and Guacamole, beans, and a tasty red sauce. It was awesome!
During the meal there was an earthquake! It was a first for many of us, because the earthquakes in Minnesota are too small to be felt. We later learned that it was a 5.5 on the Richter scale! Betty said it was stronger than usual. Oh, the adventures!

After lunch we walked about half a mile to the orphanage. The orphanage has a long Catholic name, so everyone just calls it the orphanage. All of the children here are HIV positive, which is acause for prayer but not concern - unless they lick an open wound we have, we will be fine! Many teams go through here with no negative reports. The kids were in school when we arrived, so we took a tour. The orphanage is beautiful! It's a walled compound. The buildings are made of multicolored stones held together by white cement.
The first building we visited was the infirmary, where some of the nuns were caring for the small or sick or disabled. We met a lot of the nurses and chatted with them for a bit. There is one baby here who is about nine months old, and he lives in the infirmary. So does Gregorio, a 13-year-old with both HIV and cerebral palsy, and Josue, a little boy who recently had surgery. He is having many complications, and he is retaining a ton of fluid, causing his cheeks to have swollen to a huge size. Please pray for all these kids!

Next we toured the other buildings and met many of the nuns. At the kitchen, Amy started a conversation about how carrots looked like legs that turned VERY interesting. I think we need to look at Ephesians 4:29 again! I will never look at carrots the same, that's for sure!

Dana did some more chiropractic work on the nuns, who were all very thankful! Working with around 45 kids every day has to be exhausting!

The kids were still in school, so Amanda and I helped in the kitchen. We made some banana popsicles, which Americans probably wouldn't like but the kids love!
When the children finally emerged, we played with them for about 45 minutes before leaving. Since there wasn't any structured activity today, most of us got tired and the energy kind of stagnated. Nevertheless, we said an enthusiastic goodbye and walked home.

We were supposed to do a home visit on the way back to Betty's, but the woman we wanted to talk to was unavailable. We will probably try later this week!

Dinner was a quick affair, according to Guatemalan time - only about an hour. It was a chicken dish with onions and some type of green bean. It was probably the favorite of the trip so far! I for sure want the recipe :). Betty shared a lot about Guatemalan culture and some of the sex slavery that still happens. We heard some stories about how parents still sell their daughters to abusive men, and the women can't do anything about it. Women, even of the man leaves, cannot marry another, because the man could come back at anytime. A man can have several women, and that is completely acceptable, but women can only belong to one man. It is not uncommon for an older man to bring a gift/offering to the parents in exchange for the teenage daughter. If the parents accept, it is understood that the man can take their daughter.

After supper it was back to Busca a Dios for our first of four nightly teachings. Lorelei did this talk as well - long day for her!
The Lord totally took this one. She was emotionally exhausted and very tired, but His words flowed through her! She was awake, alert, clear, and decisive with her word choice. She began with talking about God creating the world, and how he loves us so much more than animals, which then moved into the Lord's protection. She used umbrellas to illustrate the different protections God has for us - Jesus Christ, The Church, and our Parents. It was engaging, fun, and had enough variety to keep everyone engaged for over an hour. Awesome!

Being back at the hotel was fun. Debrief was a hoot - Amy did some great one-liners, and the general hilarity that ensued was great. It's late, the internet lobby is closed, and we have a big day tomorrow, so signing off!

Memorable Quotes:

Dana: "Stop slobbering on my fanny pack!"

(Jorge drives really close to the edge of the cliff)
Amanda: "I'm not laughing!"

Dorita: "Amy, what information do you need to bring me?"
Amy: "Ummm . . ."
(Ten minutes later)
Amy: "Ummmmmm . . .
OH!!!!! The hotel phone number!"
In other words, a really long senior moment. It was great! And she won't tell me her age - she had me convinced she was in her mid-30's!

Me: "Kelly, can you pass the guacamole?"
Kelly: "Huh?"
Me: "Pass the guacamole!"
Kelly: "Oh! I thought you said bless the guacamole!"
Betty: "We should make it with holy water! Then it would be holy guacamole!"

Prayer Requests will come tomorrow morning!

Much Love!
Jessica.