We continue to approach each day with a servant's heart, ready to work side by side with our Guatemalan brothers and sisters. Our team was up and at breakfast by 5:45am, ready to start another work day. They served us "el desayuno tipico" (A typical Guatemalan breakfast) of eggs, black beans, bread and orange juice. The food is really good and helps sustain us through our long work days on the Habitat build sites.
Above you can see a photo of our breakfast. Below is the group eating breakfast with the morning sun breaking through.
We loaded into our vans and were all at the worksites by 7am, helping to move cinder blocks, mix cement, wire together rebar and clamps, and build relationships within our group and with the Guatemalan people we have the privilege of working with.
One team arrived at their site and were greeted by a new companion, you can see the photo below. Most of our teams have had some "close encounters" with livestock including the horse that grazes in our hotel parking lot, chickens and roosters, cows, and our newest friend who we named "tocino." (Which is Spanish for bacon.)
Below are photos from the worksite for the team that is being led by Jenni and Ashley. They are having an amazing building experience. Their homesite is in a more rural area and a river runs right by it. They are working hard and the house is going up quickly!
They paused from their work day for a moment to take a group picture. What a great work team!
Holly and Allie bending rebar for the next layer of cinder block
During their lunch break the team got to sit down by the river. God has blessed us with some beautiful places in this world, and even as we are serving Him, He is taking care of us too!
The team hard at work on their work site. They were able to get 3 new layers of block laid in one day!
Lauren hard at work. Sorry that the photo is not rotated, but you can turn your head to see her!
There are sweeping views of the pastoral valley and the mountains surrounding us. The views never get old and our youth are amazed by how lush and green everything is, especially compared to our mission trip three years ago, building houses in Juarez that was very dry and dusty.
There are some beautiful plants all around us. We are trying to make time to stop and smell the flowers in between our busy work days!Once our work days were over, the youth all changed into their soccer clothes for a "Guatemalan cultural experience." We played soccer for two hours with the local Habitat staff, some of the stone masons' families, our van drivers, and our youth. It was a blast!
Notice the day-glow t-shirts! Since all the youth were wearing the same t-shirts, it was hard to figure out who was on each team. The people you see not in bright yellow shirts are local Guatemalans who came and played soccer with us.
Miles is a great soccer player and taught most of the youth a few tricks. Although he had some stiff competition with our Guatemalan friends who joined us.
Megan blew away the Guatemalans. It is not typical for women to play soccer down here, so the Guatemalans were not expecting to get schooled by a female soccer player. She sure showed them! It was great fun and we ended the day laughing. Despite the language barrier, the international language of sport and competition facilitated communication.
Notice the day-glow t-shirts! Since all the youth were wearing the same t-shirts, it was hard to figure out who was on each team. The people you see not in bright yellow shirts are local Guatemalans who came and played soccer with us.
Miles is a great soccer player and taught most of the youth a few tricks. Although he had some stiff competition with our Guatemalan friends who joined us.
Megan blew away the Guatemalans. It is not typical for women to play soccer down here, so the Guatemalans were not expecting to get schooled by a female soccer player. She sure showed them! It was great fun and we ended the day laughing. Despite the language barrier, the international language of sport and competition facilitated communication. It was especially fun for us to be playing soccer this week because the World Cup soccer tournament is going on while we are here. At many of our worksites the neighbors have their televisions or radios tuned into the World Cup games and you hear cheers go up each time one of their favorite teams scores a goal. Today it was Brazil.
One of our Guatemalan friends that joined us for the soccer game. He is the son of one of the stone masons who is building the house with us.
One of our Guatemalan friends that joined us for the soccer game. He is the son of one of the stone masons who is building the house with us.Below is our group photo. We had a phenomenal time and the youth are really making the most of their experience here in Guatemala.
Thank you for reading the blog and keeping up with our trip. Thank you also for your continued prayers and support.
Thank you for reading the blog and keeping up with our trip. Thank you also for your continued prayers and support.PRAYER REQUESTS:
-Continued prayers of thanksgiving for our safety
-Prayers for the health of our group
-Prayers that we can continue to communicate God's love while we are here
2 comments:
Since you and Jenny haven't posted anything in a couple of days, I'm figuring lifting all those cinder blocks and bending the rebar has left everyone pretty exhausted. Your pictures have put us [readers] right there with you and Samala looks beautiful. Everyone's energy playing soccer was amazing. I know you are forming wonderful relationships with the homeowners, the community and within the Welshire SHY. I know God will continue to work in and through all of you! Blessings and protection! Suzanne
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