Tuesday, August 20, 2019
WRITTEN BY JULI YOUNG
Day two started with team fellowship over breakfast and then quickly moved to separation as the team heading to Maya Itza departed at 9am. The team remaining at the Lutheran Center got down to business discussing the plans for the upcoming days at the El Mirador school and the Milagro Center.
We arrived at El Mirador school mid afternoon to a wonderful surprise – it is Flag Day in Guatemala and the school children shared their celebration with us. There was singing and dancing and smiles shared all around – what a joyful event.
Then it was our turn to put on a show (see photo on right). Julia read a bible verse in Spanish while the others acted it out… poorly as we “actors” couldn’t follow the Spanish ;) This resulted in smiles by the children and teachers, and wow are those smiles beautiful! The smiles extended into giggles when paint was put on each child’s hand and they added their handprints to those of the Easter families on the donated t-shirts. Kids proudly put on the shirts and posed for pictures.
The kingdom of God surely belongs to the children and thanks be to God that we can be a part of their world.
WRITTEN BY TOM YELLE
I woke after a good nights rest to learn that Royce had an episode that appeared to be a relapse of his Lyme’s disease. As a result, he would not join us on the trip to Mya Itza. The team had bonded quickly and this hurt.
We were able pray on him before we left and that felt better
The city traffic was crowded, intense and crazy. As we left the city, we drove up and down the mountains, turn after turn, pass after pass. Our driver was amazing. Very skilled and made us feel safe.
The farther we got from Guatemala City, the more scenic it was. It also became more economically depressed. Watching women carry water along the side of the road was hard. Seeing crops planted on mountain sides looked strange.
We arrived at our resort for dinner around 6:45. It was quaint, clean and welcome. Dinner was outside. Dinner was awesome.
The people are friendly and engaging. There are countless food stands along the road. You make eye contact with he vendors, smile and nod as you go by.
There is a constant reminder that we are not home. Armed guards. At the shopping mall, in front of churches. As I write this blog outside by the restaurant (the only Wi-Fi and it’s 2G) the guard for the resort came up and is unloading his gun at 5:45 am.
We reach Mya Itza today. We are excited because we are going to cement the church floor. That’s Robert’s wheelhouse so I’m excited to contribute.
