Guatemala: Last Day

We're packed and ready to leave early in the morning. . . but I can't sleep.  Maybe it's the Guatemalan coffee I had earlier in the evening, but I know that it's partially this feeling that when I go to sleep and wake up this experience will be over. 

Today has been a FULL day of ministry:  doing devotions at the school this morning, helping in the 3-year-old class again (having the kids for an hour and a half without their teacher --- Ay karumba!), doing pedicures for the mamas in the orphanage and completing our final day of camp.  Even in a foreign culture, my friend, "overcommitment" seems to accompany me!  But I wouldn't have it any other way.  I've taken in this week as deeply and intentionally as I could.  My body is exhausted, but my soul feels alive and deeply satisfied.

My heart, however, is stirred by conflicting emotion.  I am SO happy to have had this experience and so grateful that our entire family could serve together.  I have loved seeing my kids engage and have their hearts captured by Guatemalan children.  I love being here with part of our church community and serving should-to-shoulder with friends.  Yesterday ended with Mark and I lying in bed with  Graciela and Joshua, talking in the dark about our favorite parts of the day.  It was sweet beyond words.  Joshua and Audrey have especially connected with the kids here.  Interestingly, our whole family has overlapped in some of the kids we are drawn to.  Joshua had brought a lunchbox he wanted to give to one boy while he was here.  He chose Rolando, a 9-year-old deaf boy he had bonded with.  Audrey had brought a small stuffed bear she wanted to give to one girl while she was here.  She chose 3-year-old Estella, Rolando's sister who is also deaf.  Together we pooled some goodies for their other sister, Candi.  Last  night my heart was so full of gratitude to see Audrey and Joshua's compassion and to see God's artistry in drawing them to the same family group.

But my heart is also very sad to say good-bye.  This morning at school devotions, I got choked up as I looked at so many beautiful faces and thanked the children for having us.  We are one team of 45 teams who have come in 2012.  These kids will most likely forget us.  But I  hope we will not forget them.  I want to believe that God loves them so much that He brought us here and placed certain kids on each of our hearts so that we will continue to pray for them in the months, maybe years, ahead.  I want to believe those prayers, offered for specific children can really make a difference in their lives.  In my heart, I have a photo gallery of pictures that includes Rudy, Yuma, Marvin, Raul, Gavriel, Daniel, Suceli, Rolando, Candi, Estella, Lupe, Yuli, Marisol, Javier and Arturo.  I want to remember and pray.

But I also fear that I will forget.  There is so much at home that distracts me; so much that occupies my vision and blocks what is truly of eternal importance.  I want to go home different.  I want our family to be different.  But I worry that we will lapse back into what is easy and comfortable. . . i.e. serving ourselves.  Even if our family is not called to full-time missions, I would like for us to do life differently so that we could free up more money to invest in those who are called.  I hope that we carry home with us a passion for caring for "the least of these" both in Guatemala and Greensboro and around the world. 

This one thing I know:  God care more about these children than I do.  He cares more about spiritual and physical redemption that I do.  He is incredibly persistent and creative in bringing us in line with His purposes.  I fear becoming complacent and preoccupied with the wrong things.  But God is generous in both igniting and sustaining passion for His kingdom. 

GUATEMALA: Day 7 - 8

Yesterday was our third day of camp. . . and it RAINED!  This is the rainy season, but we have been blessed by lots of sunshine during our first few days.  Yesterday (and this morning) we are embraced by clouds and can see nothing off of our deck.  If we didn't remember Monday and Tuesday, we would have no idea that there is a beautiful lake beneath us encircled by mountains.  But even with the clouds we can hear the sounds of music from neighborhoods below.  The constant music from locals is one of my favorite parts of being here.  I'm thinking that all of this is such a picture of our faith journey:  pursuing what we can't see, remembering God's faithfulness and even in the dark, hearing the music of the gospel.



Sweet baby Dulce

 Yesterday Graciela and I were able to spend a few hours with the babies in the orphange.  Be still my heart!!  Five little girls with chocolate chip eyes, black hair and impish grins.  Audrey has spent a lot of time with the babies and it is her favorite place at Eagle's Nest.  Yesterday it was my happy place.  I had a little 2-year-old named Marisol fall asleep on me.  I rocked her for over an hour and kept praying for her little life to be marked by God's love and provision.


Marisol has captured everyone's heart



This evening, me and Audrey and three other girls went to watch the babies and toddlers at the orphanage so their mamas could go watch The Jesus Film with the older children.   We are sooo impressed with this orphanage and the care these children receive.  The mamas are loving and engaged with the children.  Still, it was very sad for me to lay 5 babies in their cribs and prop their bottles.  It was hard to see rows of beds in the other rooms and realize that these kids generally move  about in a group.  They don't get to be rocked at night and snuggled and read a book.  Eagle's Nest is giving them a sense of family, but its a different type of family than I would wish for them. 



Lively Lizzie



One of the family groups who has captured our hearts this is Marvin, Yrma and Rudy.  I learned more about their story today.  Their parents are alcoholic and their grandfather was abusing them when their parents would go to work.  Marvin at age 9 had taken his siblings to live under a tree to protect them.  This is where they were found only 6 weeks ago.  I am so grateful that Eagle's Nest is safe place for them to live, where all three seem to be blossoming.  Marvin has gone from tackling me to hugging me multiple times a day.  I can't tell you how sad I am to say good-bye to this family group.



Graciela and Miram



Another thing that tugs at my heart each is to see how older girls (as in 8 or 9) will care for their younger siblings.  They are so nurturing and protective.  Because my team at camp has the youngest kids, everyday I have witnessed the big girls trying to separate from their little brothers and sisters.  They have loved camp and I have loved giving them a break from their childcare responsibilities. One of the girls, Suceli, has stayed with me and the younger kids every day.  She has also captured my heart, because she is so quick to serve and so kind to her siblings.  Yesterday and today, Lainey and I have mainly played games with our younger kids. I have been amazed and how responsive they are to simple games like Ring-Around-the-Rosies, Duck-Duck-Goose (Pato-Pato-Ganzo) and Doggie-Doggie-Where's-Your-Bone.  Sucelia has come alive during these games and I have loved seeing her so carefree.  Our group was also totally captivated when I brought in watercolor paints and Crayola markers!!  They take such delight in art.



Suceli



This morning I spent a second day helping in the preschool with 3-year-olds.  Many of these kids I have in camp in the afternoon and they are absolutely precious.  One of the most animated is Guadalupe or "Lupe".  Today I was amazed to learn that Lupe, who is an orphan, does not have a sponsor for school!  She is one of the most attentive and responsive in class, plus she exudes joy.  But evidently many of these kids desperately need sponsors to help with their education.  Eagle's Nest school is so good that there are many prominent families who pay to send their kids there.  But a large percentage are either orphans or from very poor families.



Me and Marvin



Lupe



GUATEMALA: Days 5-6



Audrey and friend

      Our ministry week kicked off yesterday and what a day it was!  The Patlans are a "come and see" family, so we were invited to participate in the school and orphanage.  I led a devotional at the beginning of school. . . the first time I've ever spoken with a translator!  Afterwards our team fanned out.  Mark and the boys moved rocks, cleared the soccer field and prepped an area in the school to be painted.  Audrey spent the morning helping with the babies in the nursery (probably the BEST job!).  And Graciela and I helped in a classroom of 10 3-year-olds.  I was asked to read them a counting book and teach them how to say English numbers.  We labored through that book, counting to ten and including 20, 50 and 100.  I was totally humbled when the teacher spent the rest of the morning teaching them numero "5"!!  But it was truly wonderful to see how she taught and reinforced that number through so many activities!
     Eagle's Nest is also the site for a feeding program that feeds children from the community.  Three times a week, over 60 kids are served a hot and nourishing meal.  I did the same devotional there and then our team served them lunch.  Many of these kids would come to our camp, so we hung out with them and then walked them over.

Ymera

    But everything was building to camp!  We didn't know how many kids were coming, but we were prepared for about 100.  The camp was designed for ages 4-16, but Pedro suggested that many of the "mamas" from the orphanage might like to participate, so some of our team volunteered to watch the babies, so these women in their late teens and twenties could have some fun.  About 90 kids arrived and were divided into 3 age groups, which would rotate through volleyball, soccer and art.  It was a wonderful turnout albeit very chaotic!!  My team had the younger kids, which ended up including many 2 and 3-year olds, whose older siblings had brought them.  Trying to engage them in organized activites was like herding cats!  Probably the highlight for them was throwing a beach ball on the volleyball court.  There was one little deaf girl named Estella who was very unengaged. . . until we started throwing the beachball.  The best part of my day was seeing her face light up and hearing her giggle as she ran after that ball.  We also had 3 siblings that absolutely captured my heart:  Rudy (2), Ymera (3) and Marvin (8).  I learned



"Spiderman"



afterwards that they had recently been removed from their parents' home, because both parents were alcoholics.  Marvin had an impish smile and would hurl himself at me like a human torpedo!  But thanks to Josh and Caleb I understand this type of energy!  I kept calling him my friend and telling him how much I like him and how nice he was. . . and that he was "muy loco"!  Ymera has a very flat affect, but when she smiles you feel like you've won the lottery!  And Rudy is the energizer bunny until he sits still and the he can fall asleep sitting up. . . or sprawled on the concrete floor like yesterday.  We could tell you a bunch of stories, but suffice it to say these kids have captured our hearts.

     Today our team had a fun outing.  Half of us went ziplining (Mark, Audrey, Caleb and Josh included); and the other half took a boat ride across Lake Atitalan (Evan, Graciela and me).  We all had a great time, but those of us on the boatride were subjected to Guatemalan vendors at their worst!  They met us at the dock, thrust their items into our faces, begged us to buy.  When I said "mas tarde" (later), one woman said, "My name is Michelle.  Your remember me and buy from me."  Michelle proceeded to follow our group all the way up a street of vendors.  When I bought a trinket from a 3-year-old, she and a horde of other Guatemalans pounced on me.  They followed us into an ice cream store and they followed us all the way back to the boat, saying things like, "You said you would buy from me.  You lie.  It's not good to lie;"  "Please buy from me.  I need food."  "Give me money and I will leave you alone."  To say it was awful is an understatement!  We couldn't wait to get on the boat. . . and even then they were thrusting things in our faces, begging us to buy.  I hate pressure sales!  But it felt awful not to help needy people. 



Caleb and friend

On the upside, camp seemed like a walk in the park for me!  One of the blessings of today was watching some of the older girls on our team. . . older as in 8!  Here children start caring for their siblings at a young age and so a few of the girls on our team are watching their younger siblings or cousins.  They grow up fast and evidently their opportunities for fun are few.  Candi and Suceli are two of these responsible sisters and today they were having a blast!  I loved seeing them so animated and engaged!  Candi is Estella's older sister and together with their brother, Rolando, they live with their 83 year old grandmother.  They just began school at Eagle's Nest in January and are learning Spanish as their family speaks a Mayan dialect.  Their lives have been very hard and it was wonderful to see Candi enjoying herself so fully!





    

GUATEMALA: Days 3-4

     I wish I had made time to write during the last three days.  The days are incredibly full and we all fall into bed exhausted!  The CCG team arrived in Guatemala City on Saturday afternoon and we made a 3 hour bus ride (school buses are THE main form of transportation here!) to Eagle's Nest:  Nido de Aguilar in Spanish..  Safe to say we were unprepared for the breath-taking beauty!  Eagle's Nest is perched on a mountain (about 7000 ft.) overlooking Lake Atitilan which is surrounded by mountains, many of which are volcanoes.  We look out at the mountains, the lake and small communities.  We can hear church bells and the sound of music  from town.  And the air is so cool and dry!  Esta muy bonita aqui!!
    Most of us have felt the effects of high altitude -- i.e. tiredness -- and were thankful for an easy start on Sunday.  We worshipped in a Spanish evangelical church that meets in the Eagle's Nest School.  It was so beautiful to sing worship songs in Spanish with Guatemalan brothers and sisters.  Most were songs that we knew and thankfully they had the Spanish words on a projector.  The family of God was so big to us that morning!  I think most of the team, including us, felt compelled to honor the Latin tradition of afternoon siesta on Sunday. . . and we needed it!  Later in the afternoon a group of us walked through the nearby community to invite people to the sports camp we will be conducting Monday-Friday.  We walked through fields of maize, green onions, brocoli, bean and cilantra.  We saw incredibly humble homes, but beautiful flowers and kind , welcoming people.  We walked past a home where a family was having a funeral for their adult son who had died in a motorcycle accident.  We were invited in to pay our respects and pray with the mother.  Another family invited us into their home and shared their testimonies with us.  We watched a bunch of men and boys playing soccer.  Women and children walked past us in traditional Guatemalan dress.  It was an incredibly beautiful time and gave us such a picture of village life in Guatemala!  Here there were no tourists and we were told that the community has intentionally left road unpaved so to discourage people from moving to their community! 

The view from our room

     The family who runs Eagle's Nest is Pedro and Felis Patlan.  They have three children:  Audrianna, Dorian and Anika.  They are a dynamic family who have been amazingly gracious to us and incredibly helpful!  Felis' parents Claire and Larry Boggs started planting churches in this area of Guatemala 35 years ago!!  Felis grew up here, but only returned 2 years ago with her husband and kids to take over the administration of Eagle's Nest.  Eagle's Nest is an orphanage for about sixty children.  It also houses a school, grades pre-school through 7th, for both the orphans and children from nearby communities.  We will helping in the school most mornings and running a sports/art camp for children in the afternoon. 

Mi amiga, Maria



GUATEMALA: Day 2

Today was a day we will long remember.  It was such a privilege to travel outside of Guatemala City to the countryside!  We were so surprised by the beauty.  It is very dry here, but rolling hills were spotted with trees among fields.  Corn was growing on the sides of mountains!  Cows, goats and burros were grazing along the roads.  And men were cutting grass with machetes!  Our family decided we like the country much better than the congestion of the city!  We drove 87 kilometers (about 50 mi.) and it took 3 hours!!  We were so grateful to our driver, Mariano, for getting us there and back safely!  Neither Mark nor I would EVER want to   drive in Guatemala! 

It was amazing to be able to visit a Compassion center.  We were so humbled to see the place where children learn.  There were no enclosed windows and the desks and chairs were circa 1950s!  But the classrooms were decorated with art and there was such a spirit of love.  We learned so much about Compassion and are more passionate than ever about this organization.  Compassion  International partners with local Guatemalan churches to provide a place where children can come for tutoring and discipleship after school.  Older students also receive vocational training and some enrichment classes.  Additionally, students are provided with the necessary school supplies at the start of every school year.  Every center has one paid administrator, but is largely powered by volunteers.  And the sponsoring church cares for these kids and their families even after the kids have aged out.  There are 35,000 children enrolled in Compassion programs in Guatemala!

We met Donai, age 15, and his mother and 4-year-old sister, both named Maria.  Donai is a handsome, polite boy who met us with a huge thank you card.  He and his mother and sister captured our hearts!  They invited us to their home which was a 15 minute drive and then a 5 minute walk down a mountainside.  His "village" is a cluster of homes on the side of a mountain, accessed only by walking paths.  When we walked, we cross a small creek where a girl was washing dishes in the water.  His mother has to walk 15 minutes to haul fresh water back their house!  And cooking occurs on open fires. Evidently, Donai's home washed away 2 years prior during an exceptionally rainy season.  They were living in a nicer adobe home, provided by friends who had moved into San Pedro Pinula.  Our time with them was such a blessing.   We prayed together and while Mark prayed, Donai's mother prayed and Cruz, the center director prayed.  Our interpreter, Lucia, told us that the entire time that Mark was praying for Donai's family, his mother was praying for ours.  Isn't God amazing to bridge people across cultural, language and economic divides?  His mother radiated the love of Christ even when we couldn't understand what she was saying.  We all drove to the town of Jalapa to have lunch at Pollo Camporo. . . Guatemalan fastfood!!  The day was very eye-opening for all of us.  We are so grateful to our Compassion host, Lucia, who interpreted for us and taught us so much about Guatemala and Compassion in our two days with her.  I am amazed at how so many children's lives are made fundamentally better by being in a Compassion project.

GUATEMALA: Day 1

This morning at 5:30 a.m. our family left on our grand missions adventure to Guatemala!  We have run on adrenaline all day and are so thankful to be in our hotel rooms, in our pajamas and headed for bed soon!  I am also thankful to report that I had not panic attacks flying.  Evidently children are a strong distraction from emotional collapse (although we all know they are sometimes the cause of it, too!).  Our big talk with Graciela this morning was about how she needed to be holding a hand AT ALL TIMES. . . unless she was sitting down.  The consequence for not holding our hand would be the purchase of a child halter and leash.  We had been at the Greensboro airport for ten minutes, when she asked me if we could just go ahead and buy her a leash!!  Gladly, we did not need to and she is getting use to holding hands.  The other kids have been great and protective of her. 

The highlight of the day was meeting with our Compassion child, Kimberly!  Within an hour and a half of landing, we had rendevoused with our Compassion host, Lucia, who took us to the Metrobowl, where we met 19-year-old Kimberly and her chaperone, Griselda.  It was amazing to meet the person whose picture has been on our refrigerator for the last six years!  She was beautiful and gracious and we loved spending the afternoon eating and bowling with her.  She and Griselda both bowled for the first time in their lives!!  Thanks to the interpretation of Lucia, we were able to really engage.  At the end, we stood outside on the sidewalk and prayed for Kimberly.  She gave a very heartfelt "speech," thanking us for choosing her and telling us what a difference sponsorship has made in her life.  It was very poignant since she has aged out of the Compassion program and we will no longer be able to correspond with her as easily.  (We can e-mail her in English and she can e-mail us in Spanish, but there is the sticky problem of interpretation on both sides!)  We are so, so thankful for the time spent with Kimberly.

Tonight we went to a nearby Guatemalan restaurant which the kids really enjoyed.  The mark of a good hispanic restaurant is a woman making fresh tortillas and we were not disappointed!  Graciela kept wandering over to watch her and was thrilled when the woman invited her to make tortillas with her!!   What a sweet experience for her. . . and a great photo-op for us!

Tomorrow we are up early to visit our second Compassion child, Donai.  We will travel 87 miles and it will take us 3 hours!  Today we learned that he actually lives in the very town where Graciela was born!  We never knew!