The community was a 2 hour drive from Antigua. We arrived and were greeted by the pastor of the church where we are thinking about putting a water system. The pastor is also a doctor and runs a small medical clinic out of the church. In addition to being a pastor and doctor, he also received some dental training when he served in the military, so he also does tooth extractions at his clinic. This is not uncommon at all in Latin America, and especially in Guatemala for a pastor to have two or more jobs. I remember visiting one of our water systems in the Dominican Republic when I was there a year and a half ago and the water system was housed in a church that also hosted a dental and orthodontics office. The pastor had both a degree in theology and a degree in orthodontics.
The pastor had prepared a big breakfast for us. Typical of many churches in Guatemala, the pastor’s residence is connected to the church. So we ate breakfast as the pastor described his community and the work that his church is doing in the community. It was very clear to me from this conversation that the pastor has a very holistic vision of development for his community and sees the church’s call to provide tools and services for that development.
As we were finishing breakfast, some kids in their late teens and early twenties started showing up. These were all members of the church, active in the youth group, who were asked by the pastor to volunteer and help us with our community survey. Dani did a quick training session and then turned the five youth loose in the community with copies of our interview/survey.
Ben, me and the pastor in the church sanctuary talking logistics.
The outside of the church in TiquisateWhile the kids were out doing the survey, we walked around the community with the pastor to get a sense of the population density and culture that exists around drinking water. As we walked through the sprawling central market in the city, the pastor was greeting every third or fourth person by name. It was very clear that the pastor has a large congregation and is deeply invested in his community.
We returned to the church to collect the surveys from the youth group members and we sat around with them and talked. Once they heard that I am the youth director at my church, they got really excited. It turns out on Saturday night, they were planning on having a lock-in/prayer vigil all night. They invited me to come and preach and pray with them. Unfortunately there was not time in the schedule for that during the visit, but if we end of installing a water system in this community, I sincerely hope that I can go back to the church and spend more time there.
We packed up and left. Dani and I headed for Panajachel, the largest town on Lake Atitlan. The Guatemalan ex-pat missionary community has an organization called “Intermissions” and they were having a conference there last weekend. We decided to attend the conference to raise awareness about Healing Waters, look for new potential partners and to recruit for the National Director (ND) position.
It is always our preference to hire locals for positions in our field offices, however because the ND position has been vacant since July, we are trying to leave no stone unturned in our search for the ideal candidate. The difficulty is finding an ideal candidate. The position requires someone who has substantial experience (10-15 years) in business and can understand and help us grow our “water store franchise” model. But the person also needs to have a profound faith, an understanding of the ministry side of what we do, and be able to interact with authenticity with our church partners where we have the water systems. Add to that the need for a bi-lingual candidate and someone who ideally has a college degree, and you can see why this search is difficult and why the position has been vacant for nearly 9 months!
We arrived in Panajachel in the mid-afternoon, got checked into our hotel. Nearly every place here now has wireless internet access, which is an enormous blessing. I can use SKYPE to video chat with Jessica and Esther every day. Even though this trip is only a week long, it is so hard to be away and I don’t want to miss anything in Esther’s growth and development. So I called up Jessica and had a chance to see my wife and my baby girl. It was nice.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the Intermissions conference. We set up a table and distributed literature and also had the chance to worship with all of the Guatemalan missionaries.
Set up with out "booth" at the Intermissions Conference After the conference ended for the night, Dani took me to one of her favorite places in Panajachel, the “Pana Rock Café,” which totally ripped off the “Hard Rock Café” theme. There was a live band playing there and the food was delicious!
Me at the "infamous" Pana-Rock Cafe!Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel in Panajachel. They served us the Guatemalan version of "Pancakes" which they call "Pankekes." You can see how thick they are, almost as big as biscuits. But they were light and fluffy and Dani and I enjoyed them.
Dani enjoying her "Pankekes"After breakfast we returned to the conference and continued interacting with the Intermissions folks. I attended two great break-out sessions. One was based on the book “When Helping Hurts” which I have written about in my blog before. The book deals with the negative impacts that development work has had in developing countries. I strongly recommend it for anyone who is or is thinking about doing development work. The person leading the session talked about the book and its relationship to missions work in Guatemala. It was great stuff.
The conference was winding down by the afternoon, so we packed up our display and left. Just outside of Panajachel is a nature reserve that has a series of high jungle canopy ziplines. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to go flying through the jungle like a monkey, so Daniela and I stopped off and spent about an hour on a series of 9 different ziplines. The views were incredible and it was a fun break from the conference.
Greg ziplining over the Guatemalan Jungle!
After the fun on the zipline, we left to drive back to Antigua. We got back around 7pm and decided to go to dinner. That is when I was introduced to Sushi Akai! Yes, Antigua in the Guatemalan highlands has a Sushi restaurant! And believe it or not, it was great. I could not bring myself to order any of the actual sashimi or sushi, but we ordered some rolls that were outstanding.
That's right, Sushi in the Guatemalan Highlands. And I didn't even get sick!
On Sunday morning I interviewed a candidate for the ND position. He drove up from Guatemala City to meet me at a nice café in Antigua. The interview lasted over two hours and was very productive. I think we have a pretty solid candidate who we will be continuing to interview. I have to get back to Denver and debrief with our senior team.
I spent most of Sunday afternoon back in the hotel working and catching up on emails. I did go out to grab dinner at The Bagel Barn, and very gringo bagel shop in Antigua that is just off the plaza. I felt guilty afterwards for frequenting such a gringo place, but such is life. As I was wandering back to my hotel, there were Lenten processions marching through the city. Imagine hundreds of people dressed in purple and white robes lining the streets. Down the middle of the street people have laid down “carpets” of flowers in intricate designs. Then they have a parade with huge statues on platforms that are carried down the streets and over the carpets. You can see a photo here:
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all spent working out of our field office. I led a staff meeting on Monday morning with all of our Guatemala staff. I invited the ND candidate to stop by the office and meet the staff as well on Monday. For lunch we all drove into the city and had ceviche at a delicious restaurant. Tuesday and Wednesday I met one on one with each of the staff members to get a sense of how things were going in the office, clarify certain policies and procedures, provide some inspection and accountability to our staff there in absence of an ND, and to hear from the staff how they are doing.
Thursday morning I drove to the Guatemala City airport and flew it. It was a whirlwind trip, but very productive. This was my 5th trip to Guatemala in the past 15 months. I really love being there, but with Jessica and Esther at home, I really love coming home too!
2 comments:
mmmmmm ceviche!
You call this work? HA! just kidding, the driving to and from alone is exhausting! I know you were very busy - glad you could skype with the family back home and zip line in Pana! I hear the one at Finca Filidephia (near Antigua) is good too. Keep praying for you all filling ND postion! Hope you enjoyed the conference. We just love it and look forward to it annually! Saving up for it now! :) Hope you three can come next trip!
Blessings,
the Davis'
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