Well another day another warm Sunny morning!
We were up for Breakfast at 6:45am to leave at 7:45am. Our first stop today was a Catholic Church in the mountains overlooking Tactic. The name fo this place is Chixim (sounds like shisheem). Karren went over some of the history here, talk about a mixed up situation. On one hand you have a Catholic Church built by the Spanish then just a few steps in front of the main entrance you have a small temple with two crosses where they worship their other god, the god of corn. This was setup by the Mayan people. Again here they burn coloured candles (in the Church) for health, finances, etc or they can burn a black candle to put a curse on someone. There was a picture on a wall that showed a Mayan knelt down and looking up at Mary in the sky surrounded by flames (Sun) offering her items. They also say that Mary didn't die but that she was taken to Heaven by two angels. There are many other confusing pictures on the walls that portray other religious figures in strange situations. The number of people that can't read in Guatemala is very high so they base much of what they know from stories. Unfortunately these stories are not always fact based and can really mess things up. They don't have the ability to read a Bible and come to their own conclusions.
We finished up here and and went to Chamche School to give out parasite medicine to the Children. Many kids don't get much to eat so if they get parasites, the parasites will eat the small amount of food the child may have in their stomach. Once we gave out the medicine we were split up and told to go to a specific classroom. I was sent by myself to the Grade 5 class. Once here they sat me in the Teacher's chair and asked me some questions. The Teacher didn't speak English so it was a bit hard. He did ask my name and I told him. He asked what my favourite food was as well. Then all the kids came up and gave me a card from each one of them that they had made. They all gave me a hug as well. Then they all gathered all around me very close (Guatemalan style) and prayed for me. The myself and the children went to the main area (auditorium) and played games. After a while all the kids and the rest of the team came in and we played more games. Once all this was finished we lined up and all the kids walked down our line saying Goodbye and giving hugs. We then went back to the house for lunch.
After lunch we went back to finish our Children's ministry. Today we taught the children the 10 Commandments. After this we made worship sticks with the children. Once this activity was complete we went outside with the Children again. Once we were done playing we went back inside where the Pastor thanked us and he and the kids prayed for us. The then fed us sweet tea and cake. This was quite the thing when you consider what this cake (made in a bakery) would have cost them. Again these people that have so little have no issues with sharing what little they have. I can't honestly say if I was down to my last 5 dollars whether I would give it away. This is basically what they did. The have nothing but bought us cake.
We then went back to the house and cleaned up and I did some laundry in the Pila. We then went for supper at Rocky and Karren's. They fed us a traditional dish and drink. We also played some games with some of the teachers of the schools that were there. Once this was over we went back to the house and did our debrief. Not so much crying for me this time. :-)
I"m starting to miss home more each day. I can't wait to hold my wife and daughter when I get home. I think this is even more difficult on me considering how sore I am. It makes me want to cry knowing I have to go back to the work site tomorrow and finish digging the trench for footings. My knee, back and hip are not doing so well at all. I guess I need to suck it up as these people are probably dealing with much worse. I am frustrated though that we have people with us that might be able to help me but have not offered to do so.....oh well..... :-)
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