My Bike

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Guatemala Mission Trip - Jan 20, 2011

Another sunny day here in Guatemala.  I believe the temperatures were about the same as yesterday.  We were on the road at 7:30am for Puralha.  Today we were going for morning devotions, to give out parasite medicine and to work.  This was the first time we really interacted with the children of this school and as with pretty much most of the kids here they welcomed us with open arms. After the devotions they lined us up and prayed for us and gave us all a hug.  We then gave out the medications to the kids.  Last and the least fun we worked in hot temperatures until lunch.  It wasn't much fun but it was satisfying to know ever piece of dirt we dug or moved we were helping to build on the school.

After lunch we went and did some more home visits to give the gifts we had brought because we didn't have them when we went the first time.  I got to visit Jose and his family again.  I had the gifts in the bag I brought down.  I told him through Heber that I had the gift for him that I was supposed to have the first time I visited him.  He took the bag and looked in and his eyes went to the size of saucers when he seen the soccer ball.  He ran in the house right away with the ball. LOL  His mother talked him out of the house and he came to me with his new ball and sat on my knee.  Every one started taking pictures. :-)  While that was happening his sister was inside looking in the bag and she put the camo hat on his head while people were taking pictures.  We had brought some stuffed animals with us for his sisters so we gave them those as well.  When I picked up Jose when I first got to his house he gave another huge smile and put his head on my shoulder.  I found out that his mother is single mom with 3 kids and about to have another within days.  We said our goodbyes and left.  As we walked away I could see he had  a bouncy ball that was in the bag in his hands.  It was cool to see.  I think I would like to send some extra monies down to help the mother out.  I have some money left over from the trip and perhaps I should do just that..


We left there and on the way back to the house we stopped at Chijacorral High School to meet a student called Milton.  During our initial home visits we visited Carl and Wilma's sponsor child name Milton.  During their conversation with him they discovered that he was not going back to High School this year.  When asked why the mother said that she could not afford to send him.  She also has a daughter that was in Grade 11.  When boys hit a certain age in Guatemala they are sent out to work to raise money for the family.  Carl and Wilma were quite upset because if Milton left school he could not stay on as their sponsor child.  The people that were with us from Impact said they would check into the reasons.  We had prayed over his family while there initially and asked that God find a way to get Milton to school so that his dream of becoming a teacher would be possible.  I guess the next day after we were at his house his Mother took him to the school and registered him for classes!!!!!   When we seen him at his house he looked very sad. Today when we met him at the school he had a smile a mile wide.  This was awesome to see for sure.

After we finished the visits we came back and took a walk through the market.  We being Graham, Joanne, Christina, Sarah and myself.  We then made our way back to the house and had supper.  After supper we went to the school for a Bible meeting.  This was mostly music, mixed with prayer and singing with some scripture readings as well.  After the meeting we went to play soccer with some of the school teachers.  we played from 8pm to 10pm.  My body felt pretty good today until that ..... oh well..LOL

4 more sleeps until we are home..

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