Here are some pictures from my recent venture to Guatemala (to many of the same places Kent and I were at last year) with a team from my church in Washington:
Packing up the suitcases with extra supplies needed for the trip.
Sunset we saw from the airplane as we flew into Guatemala City.
One of the skaters doing a trick at skate church - we were originally going to go to another skate church that day, but before we left we heard that one of the skaters had been killed that morning, so we ended up going to this church instead.
My beloved Guatemalan family (L to R): Roldolfito, Mariandrea, Luisa, me, Anamirian and Roldolfo - this family welcomed us into their home a few times last year and it was a tremendous blessing to be able to see them again!
Antigua - the previous capital of Guatemala. Volcán Agua (Water volcano) is in the background.
Images from el basurero (the garbage dump).
This image, to me, is pretty powerful - there are 2 girls from our group looking on at a life that none of us could even attempt to comprehend.
At Casita Benjamin - me and Orlando. This little boy absolutely LOVED my puppet, Jorge - he carried it around with him for a while until he saw one of the other puppets. Then he put that one on his hand, gave mine back to me, and we began to have a conversation with our puppets! :)
Some boys at Casita - they were pumped about getting their picture taken. :)
At La Limonada with Víctor - a 12-ish year old boy who had a great sense of humor, but when he had the chance, just hung onto you to get a big hug. He's one of the young boys that is having to grow up before his time and this school is one of the places where he can get away from his adult life.
The National Palace in zone 1 of Guatemala City.
The Cathedral.
Lake Atitlán - a beautiful lake surrounded by 3 amazing volcanoes. This lake was a 3 1/2-4 hour bus ride from the city on a long and windy road. Once we were there, we were able to go on a couple of boat rides - the first was on Saturday to a city called Santiago where we did a bit of shopping for fairly cheap compared to other places we had been. The second was to aguas calientes - hot waters - a place where we got to jump off a 3-story boat and swim in an area with hot water from the volcanic vents. It was amazing.
A couple of things we did that I don't have pictures of:
- visited a maximum security prison and hung out with members of the 18th street gang. Kent and I went to this prison about 6 times last year to dialogue with the guys there and I was able to return and see them again. It was a great blessing to be there. They were so glad to see me again and told me how much it meant to them that I would return, and how brave I was to return without my husband. :)
- did street ministry. We sang some songs and handed out some food and hot drinks to people who live on the streets every day of their lives. It rained that evening and it was hard to leave them knowing that we could go back to our warm homes and they would continue to stay out there with the rain pouring down.
My brain is still spinning from this trip and I have a lot to mentally and spiritually digest. I'm not quite sure how to translate my experiences in Guatemala to my experiences in my home in Washington...but thankfully we serve a God who is patient and loving and will walk alongside me throughout this journey and will slowly but surely reveal himself to me. I just need to be open and willing to listen.
School's back. For many parents, I find it's a relief...for the students, I find it's something they dread...especially the juniors and seniors. :) As the teacher, I find it a mixture of excitement for meeting new students and catching up with past students (I even had 2 '08 graduates come visit me yesterday to say hi before they left for college!), and a bit of apprehension for the unknown. For the most part, though, it is something I have been looking forward to and see my job as an immense blessing and a gift from God. I feel for the teachers - like my friend, Laura, who was riffed this year due to huge budget cuts - who wait eagerly to see if they will yet get a full-time job this year and for the teachers who just graduated and are having a hard time finding a job due to the poor economy of our country. They are all in my prayers and I ask that you join me in praying for them - especially for Laura.
