Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Guatamala Chapter 1.

A friend of ours is on his first mission trip. He is spending two weeks in Guatamala helping to put a new roof on a school in a small village south of Guatamala city. He has experienced some precious children that have warmed his heart in ways he never thought possible. He is amazed that these children just want a person's time and attention! They do want something else if you have it...candy. He was able to see how valuable crayons are to these children. Each day there is a childrens time where they color and hear a story about Jesus. And each day those crayons are coveted. (remember this is a culture that they pretty much live in the jungle, they don't have food storage either, every meal is whatever you find to cook up over an outdoor spit of sorts, and shelter is temporary at best)These children are thankful for anything and it is really something to see. It doesn't hurt that one of the little girls, Maria has learned to say, "I love you Eddie" in english.
He has been able to do some groundwork for upcoming mission journeys by iterviewing several potential orphanages. He and a fellow missionary found one out of several that truly seems to fit. This nun is running an orphanage for girls. These girls have had and been through some major bad stuff,and she runs a tight ship.This was an impressively clean orphanage. The beds were made, the floors were clean, and the children were respectful and working hard themselves to keep things clean. He was very impressed that when they talked to her about what she needed she wasn't interested in money. She wondered if perhaps we could buy her some chickens so she could use the eggs to feed the girls. As time goes by and she gets more chickens she would be able to sell some of the pastries and things she made from them to help support the mission and the girls. She was hoping from that to take some proceeds and buy some herb plants and some fruit trees to plant, so that there would be a continual resource for the children. She said she had been praying for someone to come along and help her. She prayed for God to send her someone. To say the team was impressed is an understatement.
There are many more details coming out of this trip that I can't hardly wait to share with you and the rest of our mission team in future posts. Part 2 is coming up soon as he will be back this weekend and I just can't wait to hear all about the rest of the trip.
God is so good, and as my friend is learning, He does answer prayer. It is amazing when you get to see God's hand at work. Sometimes that is hard in the States. We are a blessed nation and take so much for granted. I will post pictures next time when I have some on hand.

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