I’m doing something different today because I’m traveling. To offer you a livable experience of my on-the-go lifestyle this week, and save myself some time editing, I give you a story of my week – unfiltered, unedited, raw. Please enjoy an…
Update from Guatemala
The journey began Thursday last week (day 0) flying out of JFK to Guatemala City direct flight. We arrived late stayed at the hotel and Guatemala City and then hit the road very early the next morning heading off to Monjas, Guatemala. That was day one, filled with traveling and shopping for food for the village.
Day two started early as we headed up into the mountains to see a village called Golito. It was a four and a half mile hike in with our supplies loaded on a pickup truck. The terrain is beautiful and when I get back, I’ll post some of the photos online.
As we walked into the village of Golito the first thing we noticed was the school set into the side of a Hill, protected from running water in the rain season by a row of brush on the uphill side. The mostly level floor was made of dirt. Four half-walls and a sheet metal roof made the village schoolhouse.
Our future mission is to plan and help build a new school building with a proper foundation and enclosure.
Well we were dancing with the kids doing arts and crafts and handing out supplies I befriended a young man named Melvin. Around 12, Melvin had just completed his sixth grade education and with no proper education after 6th grade and no transportation to the nearest proper school Melvin had no chance of further education. He will go on to find work and support the family back and Golito. I made a deal with Melvin that by next year I will learn Spanish and he would learn English so we can communicate with each other without a translator. [Update: My Spanish is still terrible.] Among the challenges these people face, it was disturbing to see very young girls holding their own babies.
On day 3 we headed to the Basurero (city trash facility) in Monjas to meet the people who depend on trash rummaging for their livelihood. After an afternoon of dancing and more crazy pinata mayhem I hopped on the back of a dirt bike with our local mission support, a man who has truly dedicated his life to serving the Lord and the people around Monjas. We rode across town to a remote area across the river, an area without water and all but forgotten by the people of Monjas. Crossing a river on a motorcycle was a true adventure. While handing out food to some of the families in this area, we got to try some aceitunas, sweet olives.
On day 4 for we visited the local senior home in Monjas, shedding light on the full spectrum of life in Guatemala. Life in much of Guatemala lacks some of the fundamental niceties we enjoy in the United States, like decent care for the elderly. Many families in and around Monjas aren’t well-off enough to provide the care their aging loved ones really need. These elderly folks are sometimes desperately abandoned, where they are lucky if they can find their way to a home such as this one we visited. And this day we visited was a day for rejoicing. With the speaker turned all the way up we partnered with the residents and danced marimba all afternoon until the food was ready, then we ate dinner altogether. Gratitude was shared by all.
We will be embarking on a second mission trip to Guatemala. If you have been blessed with enough, and you’d like to experience the joy of giving, you can relieve some of the financial burden off our missions team members by donating here. All donations are tax-deductible and go directly to the trip fund, enabling us to invite more members, and provide more medical supplies, more Bibles and more food. Every dollar helps and a dollar goes a long way in Guatemala. It will be the best $25 or $500 you spend this year.
During this trip so far we spent a little time at the mother-in-law (“Abuelita”) of one of our team members who’s from Monjas. On day five, as a symbol of the future of this mission, we bought Abuelita an avocado tree for her garden. From there we got into our van and drove about 5 hours West to Antigua, the original capital of Guatemala and home of 3 of the 37 volcanoes in this country. One is active (and I got a photo of it smoking before a breathtaking sunset over Antigua).
Which brings me to right now as I draft this email over dinner high above the city of Antigua. Below is a photo of me and Melvin.
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