About Us

My photo
"Bringing physical help to the poor to give them eternal hope in Christ"... A Family dedicated to seeking God and showing His enduring love to ALL, in a world that is passing away.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Last week in Guatemala

I know the last post was "one month" but really it was 3 weeks :)

Girls performing their ballet dance

Semana Santa is close, we got to see a procession

The rainy season is peeking its head around the corner and we are getting rain showers almost every evening. Every morning is bright and sunny in typical Guate form. Our house is "mostly waterproof" with 8 bowls and buckets placed around the house picking up most of the drips. (you can only chuckle when it comes to this house). The rain has changed activities a bit.

Eric has been trying to finish a project of stuccoing the shed at the Zimmerman home.  He ended the day finishing in the rain.  Eric and Eli have started construction on an Incinerator for the home, since burning garbage is essential to the way of life here.  Pray they will be able to finish before we have to leave.
It really rained hard that afternoon
We took a trip with the Zimmerman house (the older girl;s home) to Auto Safari Chapin.  We had four boys in the back seat of the pickup, Eric and I in plus Kiya and Kaiyin in the front seat, it was quite cozy!  Three boys had a sleepover that night and talked literally all night long.  In the morning, the three boys left early to make sure they got their chores done!

Giraffe literally close enough to touch

Movie night at our house
We hosted a Movie Night for the kids who had good behavior and performance in school.  It was fun to see how proud they were to be able to attend. Heather continues to teach in the school and the kids have shown a lot excitement toward learning.  Two kids got 100% on their recent tests and were so proud!

Visiting the school in Membrial
Dinner with our good friends Juan Pablo and Julissa
Griselda and Paty, both girls I used to teach
These girls can't be this grown! 




Dinner with our good friends, Rafa and Evelyn
Our friend's church tithing cans :)




Rafa and Evelyn
We were able to take a trip back to San Lucas for four days and visit dear friends both missionary and local.  We were able to see many of the girls we used to work with all grown up!  It was incredibly humbling to hear their stories of success and have them say that we were a part of their story. It made us realize how important it is to be generous and loving in every encounter because it could be a "moment" for that person without your knowledge.

We've been reading through the gospels with the kids and have read Mark, Luke and John.  The kids are fascinated with the life of Jesus in the gospels and said they like this type of story time the best.

Abi teaching baby ballet
























With only 1 week left in our trip we are starting to become much more reflective on our time.  Our kids love it here and have all shed tears about leaving even though it's still a week away.  We are nervous about re-entry to the States.  We know that life moves whether you move with it or not.  We know relationships have gone on to places we weren't a part of.  We know it's difficult to fit back in, we've done it before.  Even though it's only been three months, we've changed, hopefully for the better!  We wonder if we were missed or if we're even worthy to be missed.  Then we feel pretentious for even wondering.  So many emotions, it's difficult to explain.

Sunday, March 02, 2014

Guatemala Week 3...

Eric getting love :)

Our Guatemalan House
The Beam in our Room, literally broken!
Even though we've only been in Guatemala since the 11th of February, we're are feeling at home in our situation (with the exception of the water situation).  We're attempting to settle into a routine of sorts.  Mondays Abi teaches two ballet classes, one for littles and one for older girls (with Heather's guidance).  On Fridays Anzo and Eric have been teaching Tae Kwon Do to all the kids for PE.  It's been fun to see them learn to kick and punch.  Eric has been helping out with a few random construction type projects as well as he just started teaching a discipleship class to the older kids at the home on Wednesdays and Fridays.  Heather is teaching school to the 1-3rd graders on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  She also assessed all the students for their levels to see where they stand educationally.  She's also been subbing from time to time in the 4-6th graders class.  In the middle of the week from 2:30-4:00 the kids all have PE on the airstrip where soccer or capture the flag seem to be the games of choice.  Abi and Zoe have taken turns during the week helping take care of the babies while their moms (all 13-15 years old) go to school.  Be praying for them as they are very far behind and need to catch up.  The kids all have made friends quickly and it's amazing how certain kids gravitate toward you.  Kaiyin is enjoying riding bikes and running around outside.  Kiya's been doing school in the mornings with Heather at the school and she also enjoys playing with the kids at the home.  On Saturdays we've spent part of our day in the main town trying to get groceries and errands done.  On Sunday, we went to the local church with the kids and they got up and helped lead worship.  The kids here are precious and have already stolen our hearts!
Eli, Angel and Saul swimming in the freezing water

There are two homes we are working with here.  One is the younger kids home with 27 kids and the other is an older girls home (13-16) where many of the girls have babies.  One of the girls from the older girls home is 14 and is in Heather's 1st grade class.  She is so happy to be learning and she works so hard.  Pray for her as she has goals to continue her education.

Please be praying for all the kids.  All of them have come from horrific situations and are in process of bringing normality back into their lives.  The house parents Dave and Deborah are amazing and do such a great job making sure the kids are loved and hugged daily.  The kids write in journals every night and have devotions multiple times a day. We are humbled to have a small part in their lives and ministry.



Worship Time!

Zoe helping with Babies

Heather helping with school

Abi teaching ballet

Helping Stucco the Workshop

Baby Ballet Class

Birthday Party!!!

Navigating Market Day
Shopping at the market