Home Safely

First of all I appoligize that I haven't written in so long. The keyboard on my laptop is broke and so I couldn't do a could other updates before I left, but I will fill you in on what happened the last coupld of weeks I was in Guatemala. After the one week team left the summer staff took a little vacation. Students International books a two day trip in a nice resort as a thank you to summer staff. The resort was called Solei and it is said to be one of the nicest resorts in all of Guatemala. There were two large pools and it was all inclusive so we eat a lot. One night we played bingo (in Spanish) that was a lot of fun. It rained the whole time we were there, so we spent a lot of time in the room playing games and having deep conversations with our chaperone staff Maurine. She is a great lady with a huge heart for God.

When we returned, the next team was there and ready to go. I am so glad that God blessed me with a great last group. I had three amazing girls in my house. I actually played softball at Greenville with one of the girls. I don't know if words can describe how much I enjoyed my last group of people who worked in the Agriculture site with me.

There were two high school boys, a high school girl, a girl a couple years older than me, and two older gentleman. The first day at sites was a day we did vet work. It was pretty rough because it was raining all day and we were walking around giving vaccinations in the rain and mud. The next day we hoped on a chicken bus and headed to Antigua to buy materials to start our chicken coop. It was a new experience for me, because Mario (our leader) had always picked up the materials himself and had them waiting at the place we would be working. Since we had so many hands, Mario said it would be easier to haul them back on a bus. So we carried 2X2s and wires and all the other materials we needed from the store to the bus and then to the house.

We would be building our chicken coop for a lady named Dominga. Her husband died a few years ago and she has been raising her children since. She was a very happy lady and you could tell she felt blessed by our donation. She fixed us lunch and we sat around and talked about why we had come to Guatemala and what God has been doing in our lives. She is not a christian, so Mario descirbed our work there as "Fishing" :) I thought it was a good way to describe it. We finished her coop in one day, because we had so many people.

We did more vet work the next day and Mario came to us and asked if we would be willing to build another coop, because he had a pastor friend who lives 2 1/2 hours away and has asked him for a coop. Of course we said yes and in a day and a half (we had to go to Antigua to get materials again) we had his coop done as well. The bible study that meet every two weeks was meeting on Monday and so my group went. One person from each different area spoke and thanked the people for their kindness and hospitality. Mario told the ladies it was my last week in Guatemala and then asked if I wanted to share anything. I told them how happy I was that the Dominican was full and I had to come to guatemala instead. I thanked them for inviting me into their family and making me feel so welcome. I also said I would be around visiting some of the ladies when I had time. Afterwards, a couple of the ladies I had built coops for came up to me and asked me when I would be by. I wanted to cry because they were so welcoming and insistant that I come see how their chickens were doing.

I had the opportunity to stop by Ava's house on Friday and her chickens look great. She was the second lady I build for and our team donated 52 chickens to her. It was great to see her coop full of chickens and to hear her talk about how blessed she was to have them. She said I was always welcome in her house and asked if I was coming back next year. I told her it was in God's hands and she said that I had to come visit if I did come back. I have heard people say that short term missions doesn't have a big impact on people. They are so wrong! Each team that came only had 2 weeks here, but the women that received the chickens and the coops will never forget the people in those teams.

I had lots of first time experiences during my last week of work there:
1. I held a conversation with a complete stranger on the bus
2. I got to know Mario's sister and her little boy Gabriel while we were buliding the 2nd coop of the week
3. I build 2 chicken coops in one week
4. I carried childing materials to the bus and a 100lb bag of chicken feed
5. I gave my life testimony
6. I witnessed the biggest donation that Mario has received from a site grou

I challenged the people in my group to donate more than 25 chickens (which means donating money from their own pocket) at I did with all my groups. This group went above and beyond my expectations. They donated almost 1000Q, which is over $100 to buy extra chickens and feed for both coops. We had money left over so Mario also bought more medicines.

The last night in Guatemala was by far the most difficult. My family gave me a beautiful letter (in Spanish of course) telling me they would miss me and would never forget me and they hope to see me next year. I missed them as soon as I left. I said goodbye to all the staff and the people in the groups Friday night and it was very hard. I got lots of pictures and very sincere thank you's. I will never forget my experience there.

My experience in Guatemala is impossible for people who haven't been there to understand. I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to share some of my feelings and experiences with you. It's been great to see God at work in this amazing place. I've made relationships with the people there and I've learned from them. I have built relationships with the staff people there and have had the opporutnity to discuss deep spiritual things with them and really feel that God had called me to be there.

Thank you again for the support and prayers all of you have given me. Without you this trip would not have been possible. Have a great rest of the summer!