guatemalajournal

May 6th

I now know what it feels like to be on an airplane! Not only was this my first time on an airplane since I was 11 months old, but I it is a neat feeling to, in five hours, go from KC to Guatemala City, Guatemala!
We all went out to lunch at a nice restaurant in Guatemala City before making the 45-minute drive to San Raymindo, a town of 10,000 in the mountains. It was very quiet, almost serene.
Lori and Queno Nij, the two missionaries we worked with were from the New Iberian Mission, which is based out of Las Cruces, New Mexico. They started a school and a hospital here in San Raymundo. The only people who live at the school are the watchman and his family.
We got our first taste of Guatemalan food tonight as Chela, the cook, made us some wonderful food. This first day was a lot to take in. So much to see, so much peace and tranquility. It is so exciting to be part of this mission team. We really have no one leading us. It is just 10 people who are set on serving this school for two weeks, not knowing what is really going to happen.
I know that God has some amazing ways of changing people on these trips, and I am sure that He will do it on this one.
We are getting ready for our fist devotion of the trip. We are studying the Fruits of the Spirit, and every night we are going to examine one of them. We also need to tie up some details for our first day of VBS that�s tarts tomorrow.
The gold nugget for the day: The higher up in the atmosphere I am, I am that much closer to God. I can almost see the tops of some clouds here!

May 7th

I should have put in yesterday�s journal that it was the calm before the storm, because the kids, all 103 of them have been flying around with energy all day. We had two sessions. The morning was the 3-8 year-olds and the afternoon was all the older kids. They were separated by a 2 1/2 hour break, including lunch and a siesta! Yes, siestas are very nice. It is a Guatemalan custom to take a nap after lunch, since it is the biggest meal of the day.
We had three different VBS classes. They were crafts, memory verses and recreation. After doing the overall theme for the day and presenting a short skit, we divided the kids into three groups and had them go to classes. I worked with Kara Parker and John Leffler on memory verses.
Let me tell you that trying to teach bible verses in Spanish to Guatemalan kids is no easy task! We all struggled with pronunciation and the kids would laugh at us until we got an interpreter there. It was very, VERY humbling. We also played games like hopscotch with them to help them learn the verse.
It was almost heartbreaking to have Lori tell us that many of these kids had never played with a ball, or played with glue or read a book. We really started to realize what a challenge we were facing and how different our culture raises children.
By the end of the day, we were all too tired to do anything�kids wear ya� out!
My one gold nugget for the day: Just because I live in America, does not mean that I am the happier person when compared to an 8 year-old in Guatemala.

Tues. May 8th

More of the same for VBS today. We are all very tired, but it was well worth it. Want to share about one kid who we are seeing God move in.
Luvia is a 6 year-old girl who is just really quiet. Lori says she sits in the corner by herself at school and does not play with the other kids. She never plays; never talks and the other kids make fun of her sometimes.
Today, she started following one of my best friend�s, Dan Doerflinger, around. She let Dan pick her up and carry her around all day. By the end of the day, she played in his recreation class and let me tell you, Lori could not believe it.
Gold nugget: Sometimes words don�t need to be said to show the love of Christ.

Wed. May 9th

Today was the first rain of the rainy season. After VBS, We got to play in the rain with some of the kids. I loved picking the kids up by their arms and swinging them around. All of us guys did that and it was incredible to see them having so much fun. I had 30 kids grabbing and tugging on me, but I loved seeing them laugh and giggle and be kids! That made my day.
The kids also got their pictures taken today for their moms. Guatemalans also celebrate the holiday, but theirs is tomorrow. The kids are giving the Polaroid we took of them to their moms at a performance on Friday as VBS closes.
We sent Dan and John to go with Queno to Guat. City to get lumber for the playground that we will build. They had quite an excursion trying to find the right wood. It is nearly impossible with the language barrier, but an English-speaking traveler bailed them out.
Tomorrow is it for VBS as far as classes go, so it will be a little sad, but also fun to see how the kids respond when they have to go back to regular school on Friday!
Gold Nugget: God delights in our being content with the simple pleasures in life.

Thurs. May 10th

Today has been a day of learning. I learned how to say leapfrog in Spanish. Yes, when it is raining and we are stuck inside and you are teaching a class of 20 Guatemalan kids, you have to improvise. So, when John came by to check and see how I was doing, we looked up the word for leap and the word for frog and showed the kids how to play. It was riotous! The kids picked up on it really quick, and it was so funny to watch.
I also learned in the last 30 minutes what it is like when a friend rebukes you for some things you have done wrong. My roommate and I had a long talk about life; this trip and he challenged me in some areas of my life that I was undisciplined in. I know it was God talking and so I plan to have a good time with my dad after I get done writing.
God Nugget for the day: God loves us even when we are undisciplined and we let our thoughts get the best of us.

Fri. May 10th

It is about 10:30 PM and I have been asleep all day. Why? I have hade diarrhea and stomach cramps all day. I woke up with shooting pains in my stomach, and was barely able to get up to perform in the end of VBS program.
We performed a drama to �God So Loved� by Jaci Velasquez for the parents and kids. I was able to stand there and do that and then I went to lay down because my immune system had failed me big time. I was one of the last ones of us to get sick. Right now, we have a girl with tonsillitis who had to see a doctor here and get medicine. Also, we have three girls with viruses. God is testing us big time.
From what I was told when the other checked up on me, they started digging holes for the playground in the afternoon.
Gold Nugget: No matter how stubborn you are, God always finds a way to bring you back to reality. For me, it was through being sick.

Sat. May 11th

I have just arrived home from the most beautiful lake in the world�literally. Lake Antiqua has been deemed the most beautiful lake in the world, and we took a 4-hour drive there today.
We took an hour boat drive over to another part of Guatemala. We just stopped for a while and the came back to the dock, but the lake was SO BEAUTIFUL. It is surrounded by five volcanoes! It was so awesome! It makes you feel so small and useless. I remember saying to God, �You created THIS!�
Starting to see that this trip is less about group unity and more about God and I spending time together bonding. My stomach cramps were still giving me trouble, and I had more shooting pains on the drive back. Hopefully they are gone when I wake up tomorrow. I just ate for the first time in two days, so I hope that the food will help.
Gold Nugget: God desires our friendship with Him to be first in our lives, not second to other relationships we have.

Sun. May 13th

We started out the day by going to the house church that Lori and Queno started in Guatemala City. It was so moving, inspiring, fill-in-the-blank type of experience to hear the worship in their own language. They did some English songs, but when I think God wanted us to experience worship in a way we never had before.
All we could do was listen and watch their expressions. I felt like stepping out because that was definitely a holy place and I felt so much like my worship was nowhere near that of those people. I was so humbled by it.
As if that was not enough, we spent all of Sunday afternoon in Antiqua, a tourist center of shops, like a marketplace. I got to spend a lot of Guatemalan money, and take some nice pictures.
It is so funny, because the merchants will not take no for an answer. No matter what you tell them, they will hound you till you leave. Tabby, Lori and Queno�s daughter did the haggling for us and got us some nice deals!
When I was done shopping Queno took me into a big street church in the marketplace where I got to see a real, upbeat worship service. I was the only American in the place, but Queno and I had a lot of fun as we worshipped and met many people. I felt so great, because Queno specifically asked me to go with him.
Back to work tomorrow. This time it is manual style on the playground. I am excited to see if we can get this playground built in three days. We will be doing it without Stephanie and Quinton, though. They are leaving tomorrow morning, and it will be hard to say bye to them, especially Quinton, who is five. He has had the time of his short life here, and he has been such a blessing to have to show us how things really should be.
Gold Nugget: Worship is as real as you make it. Sometimes no singing is required.

Mon. May 14th

This one will be pretty quick, because it is almost midnight and I just got done giving my devotion on faithfulness after working a 14-hour day. We started at 8 AM and finally quit @ 10 PM. We all did take an hour siesta, though.
Since we had no kids to entertain us, Adam Hartz decided to do the honors. After everyone was dragging themselves out to the worksite after their respective siestas, Adam got on the roof of the hospital (a one-story building), and surprised people with water buckets. It turned into an all out water fight for all eight of us.
I think I have realized that a good days work is very satisfying when you do it for the Lord. I feel like my arm could fall off from sawing so much wood, but I would do it again right now if I were asked to.
Gold Nugget: Never underestimate the power of prayer.

Tues. May 15th

It was a carbon copy of Monday, except for one thing. Everyone started to lose tempers and patience at times, and it never became more evident to me than right now, why we need to be gentle to our fellow Christians. Gentleness was our devotional topic as fruit # 8. I found myself getting agitated at the stupidest things that usually do not faze me. Patience is a hard thing to show when your tired, but I have learned that silence is golden when you cannot keep your mouth shut.
By the end of the day, we were all fine, knowing that the weariness was the cause of our frustrations, or it might have been us busting another water line while digging!
Gold Nugget: If you cannot edify your sibling in Christ, the do not say anything. Do not let your impatience bring someone else down.

Wed. May 16th

Today, we got the playground done!! Yes, by 2 PM, we were done. The monkey bars, the fort, balance beam, swing set and teeter-totter were all done. The kids even tried them out after school.
We decided that we wanted to see the ancient Mayan ruins before we left, so we got Lori and Queno to take us. We were only there 45 minutes, but I was again humbled as I saw what they lived in and how they lived thousands of years ago.
After we left, we stopped at a bridge over a river near San Raymundo. No we were not checking flood levels, we were getting ready to baptize Adam Hartz!! And the most humbling thing of all was that he asked Dan, John and I if we could perform the honors! Could I? Let�s see�.
Baptizing that guy was the coolest thing I have ever done! For some people, they get highs from skydiving or whatever, but I got one from baptizing him! The river was muddy, and the rocks were like bullets on my bare feet, but it did not matter.
We leave in for the airport in 12 hours, and it is starting to hit. After tomorrow, I will never see these people again, unless God wills it. I could have done so much more, been more �fruity�. Our phrase this week was �be fruity�; show the fruits of the Spirit. I could have done that better, but I cannot dwell on that, just change.
We brought down extra money of which we all raised from supporters and churches. We called it emergency money, but we did not use it for that. We gave gifs to Chela, the watchman and his family and Queno and Lori. Our gift package included a CSF shirt and a financial gift for their hard work. When we gave the check to Lori and Queno, Lori started crying. Apparently, they had been praying about how they were going to pay for the van they use to pick up kids, etc.
The money we gave them was the exact amount of the insurance on the van for the next six months! It was one of those happy tearjerker�type of moments. God is so awesome.
Got loads of packing to do, and we can sleep on the plane, so most of us are going to stay up all night playing games! We have to have a little fun.
Gold Nugget: No matter how many times you mess things up, you always have a heavenly dad who is there to forgive you.

Thurs. May 17th

I am on a plane from George Bush Airport in Houston, TX to Kansas City International. It was really tough to say goodbye to Lori and Queno. Part of me honestly wants to stay there. Now, I am going back home where the worries of the world will hit as soon as I get off the plane. In San Ray. The only thing they know is living off the land, making do with what you have and loving God. I am going to be attacked by Satan when I go home. So many things to get done, so many worries of what my life will become.
I know that this trip has made me stronger. God and I had a good time the last two weeks. I know that things definitely did not always go as I thought they would. However, the last two weeks I have had no worries about my life. No worries about grades, about jobs or about my busy schedule.
God brought me here to make my gold more refined: to make my temple where God dwells more like His. I know that whatever happens when I get to KC, that God is with me now more than ever.