GREETINGS FROM OUR TEAM!!!

After an awesome nights sleep for most of us (the rain pouring on the tin roof for a good couple of hours really helps you relax after a long day of traveling), we were up and at ‘em and ready for our first full day here. That is to say after an awesome breakfast of pancakes and bacon, made by Donna, and our very own Ryan and Krista!

At that point, we headed to Antigua for church ….

Each evening, we take time to discuss and debrief the day. There were many things about our experience at church that were great. For example, obviously the worship through music time was in total Spanish … yet, a couple of the songs we knew as well, so we sang in English. What it awesome experience to see His people, joining together in worship, and those language barriers having no say in it!

It was also incredible how God spoke straight to our team about some things that we were looking towards later in the day through the pastor (Ben Mooney was translating the message for us).

There were also some things we noticed about the church, specifically the passion and genuineness of the body there, which spoke a lot to all of us, and really challenged our own approach to Sunday morning worship.

Like I said, it was a great experience, and one which God spoke to us through!

At that point it was time to head out for a little lunch ….

This picture really does not do it justice … but we are literally back inside a GIGANTIC market that is all covered, and it was like a maze getting back in there. It is owned by Saul’s (Hannah Mooney’s husband) family. We were treated to straight up authentic Guatemalan food … chicken, some sort of potato like thing, all in a sauce. Not to mention pop out of glass bottles (totally old school looking I thought).

Then it was off to the orphanage. Hermano Pedro is the orphanage many of us have heard of from Dick and the Mooney’s. It is an orphanage/hospital, and houses mostly handicapped patients … of all ages. After going through each wing (teenage guys, teenage girls, then kids) we were given the opportunity to just interact with anyone we want. Again, this is a handicap hospital, and the physical and mental state of a majority here is not pretty. Especially within this culture, these are “the least of these”. Many are abandoned, dropped in holes, beaten, locked away in rooms … etc. There time in the orphanage is obviously better, yet, with the number of patients, and the number of nurses, they are usually locked in their cages/beds for up to 20+ hours a day, unless a group like ours come in.

Let me say this, before we went today, I did see some hesitation from our group. The unknown is not an easy thing, and experiencing a place like this humbles anyone and everyone. That being said, you should all be extremely proud of our group, as EVERYONE jumped right in with both hands, and incredibly FULL HEARTS. I can only upload so many pictures, so here are a few … I will show them all once we get home …. GOD AT WORK …..

It was an incredibly emotional day, yet INCREDIBLY powerful as spending time with these kids, we learned things about God, and about his love for us, and about worship, in ways that we couldn't even comprehend. Like I said, we have many more pictures coming once we are home.

After having to say good bye to our kids, it was time to go check out a small market where we were able to buy some things if we wanted. Then headed home for a great dinner prepared by Momma Donna (yeah, she takes awesome care of us). As I mentioned we spend some time discussing, debriefing, crying, encouraging, challenging … after dinner. Then worked on our skit for Tuesday, now we are all winding down and headed for bed. It was a great first day … and one that challenged each of us tremendously. Now it is time to rest our bodies as we prepare for food distributions and house builds tomorrow!

GOOD NIGHT FROM GUATEMALA … miss all of you!

Blake