Guatemala 2009

This morning was very nice for our team, because those who were exhausted yesterday were able to join the rest of us in feeling refreshed and awake. I served a very simple breakfast of milk, cereal, toast and peanut-butter, as well as coffee and hot cocoa and instant oatmeal. Since we hadn’t yet purchased our perishables, we had to subsist on what we had in our kitchen so far. No one complained a bit.
After breakfast we visited some, and then prepared to head to church. Interestingly, a tiny, new church from Solola is meeting on the grounds of Eagle’s Nest, since their building is under construction. So we only had to walk out of our apartment building and over to the next building for church. When we walked into the church, the pastor (a local man, trained by the missionaries here) greeted us warmly. He welcomed us to his little church, and then asked if there was anyone in our group who could translate the service into English for us so that we could participate better. We were hesitant to intrude into their service, but the pastor really insisted that we allow them to serve us, so we agreed. Ariana did an excellent job of translating, and the whole team soaked up the wonderful music and sermon.
Joyce offered to sing some songs she knows in Spanish, and the pastor was so happy to have special music. Also, the pastor invited Dave to come and share a few words of greeting from our group to their congregation.  Our whole experience was enhanced thanks to the willingness of both the pastor and Ariana to work together in the translation.
The text of the sermon was Acts 1:8, which is what our pastor preached just one week ago today back in Normal, Illinois. How amazing to hear the same Gospel being preached so many miles away and in a different culture. Many of us were convicted by the pastor’s exhortation to be a bold witness for the Gospel in every part of our lives.
After the 2-hour church service ended, we prepared to head into town. Some of us were on a mission: we needed to purchase food supplies. But others had a different goal: they wanted to walk into town on foot. So the food shoppers bounced into town in the van, while the strolling folks headed out on foot.
We made good progress in the department of food-gathering, thanks to splitting up into two teams and having nice lists to follow.
The food was then driven back up to our apartment and quickly put away. Then our team all piled into two vans and we headed to Panajanchel for lunch and shopping.
We ate at the “Sunset Cafe”, which is a favorite of many of the folks who have been here before. For those of us who experienced it for the first time, we understood the reason that folks enjoy it so much.  It was a beautiful place, and the food was amazingly delicious.
Once our late lunch was finished, we had two hours to shop before meeting up again at the vans. It was so interesting to browse and bargain among the vendors. Most of us ended up with goodies to show off to the rest of the team once we reunited.
For those of you who have been here before, perhaps you remember the little ice-cream shop where we stopped in Pana last time? Well, it’s still there, and the ice cream is just as yummy! It was a perfect end to our shopping trip.
Upon our return to Eagle’s Nest, we announced that those who were hungry could come up to the food apartment for something to munch. Since the cook had been absent all day, the only options were cereal or peanut-butter sandwiches. But those were happily consumed mostly by growing young men who are constantly hungry. Others sipped cocoa or munched popcorn, and soon it was time to head over to the chapel for our evening worship time.
Millie led us in singing, and then we shared some of our impressions of the day. After that we prayed for a while, and then dismissed to our rooms.
Tomorrow is a bit uncertain for us. We are hoping that there will be someone here to assign jobs to the team. We trust that God’s timing is perfect, and that it will be clear exactly what we are to do.
Meanwhile, I hope you all remember that our internet connectivity is limited, so team members are not able to communicate as freely as we’d like.
Oh, Julie, I have a message for you from Spencer. The villages below us are regularly firing off rockets or bombs or fireworks or something. So we often hear loud booms and see puffs of smoke. Some of the team have speculated that perhaps we have landed in a skirmish between two villages. Others say it’s a civil war. But Spencer wanted me to assure you that despite the attempts on our group with all the artillery, we are fine! I’ll be sure to report if this changes.
I have collected the comments on the blog from the last few days, and I will share them with the team members. Thank you for your kind words and your encouragement.
With Love, from Christie… for the team.