Headed to Miami!

We’ve made it to Guatemala City, gotten checked in and through security; and a few of us even got coffee and McDonald’s ;) We’ll be taking off soon and will check in with you all again once we get to Miami and get our baggage through customs!

Farewell Banquet

It’s so good to look back and remember what God has done and how He’s worked, and we are so thankful! But, it’s always hard to say goodbye...

Tutoring & Veterinary Sites

Tutoring

We have been working at the Tutoring/Education site here in Guatemala.  In this site, they help the children that come with their homework - including multiplication, reading, writing, and drawing.  Most of the kids just come to play.  We have played countless games of UNO and Jenga and have both loved running around with the kids!  And, the thing that we do that has impacted us the most is the house visits, where we visit families that are associated with the site.  We walk all over to go pray and talk with people and have gone to the homes of those who are sick, to home Bible studies, to churches to pray for provision, and to a funeral.

It has been inspiring to hear the stories of these people, but at the same time we have been challenged in our own faith.  No matter their circumstances or challenges they are facing, they always have a smile on their faces.  And the faith of many of the people is so very strong because of all they have been through.  We are thankful for our time in this site and have been impacted by all that we have seen and experienced!

- Katrina Kevorkian and Sydney Crowell

Veterinary/Agriculture Site

During our time at the Veterinary/Agriculture Site, we have been blessed to work with MeMe and Dr. Joanna.  MeMe has a passion to do God's work while working with animals and their owners.  His love for God is shown through his grace and patience with the animals.  He's always kept us laughing and on our toes with his jokes and stories.  Dr. Joanna is finishing her state regulated post-doctorate.  Although she could've gone to an internship that would've paid better, she chose to work with SI.  She wanted to be able to encourage others in their faith while helping animals.  Dr. Joanna has nerves of steel and the biggest heart!  She is kind and gentle in every situation.

With being around these amazing and humble people, our hearts and souls were encouraged.  We climbed mountains together, cried when we had to put down a dog, and stunk together when we had to operate on pigs.  We will never forget our week with MeMe and Dr. Joanna.  We were so blessed by their words of encouragement and kind hearts.  God truly knew what He was doing when He sent us to Guatemala!

- Karen Herr and Alfred Porras

Sponsorship & Microfinance Sites

Sponsorship

In the social work/sponsorship site led by Steven Henkedley, we focus on children whose families are receiving help to put them through school by donations from families in the United States.  In the past few days, I have made a house visit, led a few youth group type meetings, visited a kindergarten class, played soccer, and even helped create part of a curriculum for a new club for 5th and 6th grade boys.  

The thing that impacted me most so far has definitely been the home visit we made on Monday.  We listened to a 20 year old girl name Marlin share her story about her faith and how she has been able to make it to the position she is in today.  Her dad abandoned her and her family when she was little.  She grew up fatherless with 4 other siblings until her mother met another man and got remarried.  They had 4 more children together.  She was able to be sponsored and put through school and was the first woman from her town to graduate from school.  But sadly, her second father passed away just before graduation.  Her phone got stolen, and a trumpet she borrowed from her school was taken as well.  She is trying to raise money to buy a new trumpet for the church, which is why she can't afford to go to school right now.  Currently, her mom has 9 kids and is without a job, and they are all sleeping in one room.  But after every trial, Marlin told us she finishes with 6 words, "But I still have my faith."  Her faith is something that no one can take away from her, and she knows that better than anyone.  She believes that God will provide for her and her family.  I was fortunate to show her Romans 1:16-17, and her face lit up when she read the words, "The righteous shall live by faith."   I started to tear up as she asked our site leader, "Does that mean I'm righteous?"  Her trust in the Lord despite her circumstances is incredibly inspiring and something God knew I needed to hear.

Please pray for the children in El Gorrion and Magdalena, as well as for Marlin and her family for their faith to continue to be strengthened and for God to continue to provide.  Thank you!!

- Ricky Belyeu

Microfinance Site

My time in the Microfinance Site with Geber Lopez has been nothing short of amazing.  Our work has consisted of touring 5 different communities and visiting members at their homes and businesses.  We have also learned how the micro-loans are given out and how the businesses are run.  We hosted a graduation banquet for the ladies that no longer need loans, learned how to make tortillas, and taught a community how to make chocolate chip cookies.  We have also helped the members of this group by repairing holes in a roof, building a chicken coop, painting a kitchen, and pouring concrete to stop water from leaking into a family's home (where the mom is in Microfinance and the kids attend the Special Education school).  


Through this site, something I didn't expect coming into the trip has been having so many opportunities to love on the children of the ladies in the site and in the communities where we've been working.  I've had so much fun running, carrying, flipping, and dancing with them.  It has been such a blessing to work alongside Geber and pastors as they strive to not only provide support and accountability to the businesses of as many people as possible in these communities, but also serve and show Christ's love to these people each day in so many practical ways!

- Kyndell Crowell

Sports & Medical Sites

Sports Site

At San Miguel after an intense game of soccer

At Magdalena community court, warming up and
stretching before starting pick up games.

The Sports Site has blessed us so very much!  The site leader, Danny, is a full-time staff member at SI and also a part-time reserve firefighter.  Danny brings the sports ministry team members to different towns around Magdalena.  We start off by getting to know the kids in whichever town we may be in for the day (Magdalena, San Miguel, or El Tablon), we have a brief teaching, and the rest of the time we play with them.  It has been fascinating to see all of the kids have such talent while playing soccer with them.  The kids were often way better than us, and they have such an ingrained passion for fútbol!

At El Tablon with SI staff teaching about "Identity in Christ"
before playing kickball and a game of soccer with the local children

We had the opportunity to grow close to a lot of the little kids who were about 10-12 years old.  Their untainted joy have given us such encouragement!  We loved talking with them, playing with them, joking with them, and laughing with them.  We were sincerely humbled and blessed to have spent our time here investing in relationships and bringing joy to kids by enjoying time together!

- Jack Lockhart and Paul Chong

After a long day of ministry, resting and hanging out at
La Casa Grande with teammates from other groups

Medical Site

Here at the medical site, we have been privileged to work alongside and learn from Paqui and Dr. Sara, two women who love the Lord and their patients.  The medical clinic is right inside the community center and receives patients Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (which is especially for children).  We have been able to take turns working in the front with Paqui receiving patients, taking vitals, getting patient records ready, and dispensing medication based on Dr. Sara's prescriptions/what is available.  If we're not in front, we are with Dr. Sara in the back rooms, observing and assisting her when possible with the patients.  Dr. Sara is a pediatrician, but sees and helps patients of all ages.  She plays worship music throughout the day and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, she goes out on home visits where she checks up on and prays for her patients and their families.  Outside of the clinic, she has also started a diabetes program and a malnutrition program in the community of El Tablón.  Twice a month, she goes out and works with those in the programs, striving to meet their needs while educating them with how to manage and improve the situations.  This is what we got to do yesterday, which was such a special time and a blessing for all of us!

One special time during our time here was our first Friday when we went on a home visit with Dr. Sara.  We went to an elderly woman's home that had many medical problems.  She was open and vulnerable about the difficulties of her life, medically, emotionally, and spiritually.  She told us that because of symptoms of her diabetes (like uncontrollable migraines), she had visited the hospital numerous times, and each time they didn't give her any long term solutions.  So, she just kept going back.  But then she went into a story about how God helped her - she said that one day she had such a bad migraine that she just began to cry out to Jesus.  She asked Him to take her if it was her time, but if not to please help heal her of her headache.  And, she said while chopping onions later her horrible headache suddenly disappeared.  It was at this point that Dr. Sara started suggesting a spiritual sickness rather than a physical one.  We were all blessed and challenged as we heard Dr. Sara speak on the power of prayer and all that is possible when we faithfully surrender to the Lord and continually cry out to them!

- Sam Lew and Maggie Khoury

Devo Time

Every day after having breakfast in our host homes, we meet at the Central Park in Magdalena to drive to the Community Center where we dig into the next devotional. We’ve been going through 2 Timothy with a study guide one of the SI staff developed for the outreaches this year, and here’s just a brief peak at what our devo time looks like each morning:

Debrief Afternoon

The teams have all finished their last full ministry day in their sites, which is bittersweet. We still have a partial day in sites tomorrow, but then we end early to have some special time debriefing with our site leaders and teammates before the end of the outreach banquet.

Currently, the SI Guatemala site director is starting to help all of us debrief and think about going back home, which is so very helpful! The kids have really been able to start processing how this time has impacted them and what God is doing in Guatemala, in SI, and in their individual lives.

When this time is done, we will head back to our host homes for our “last dinner” and hangout time with our host families for the rest of the evening, where we will be able to give them gifts and really try to be a blessing to them and show them how much they’ve meant to us and how much we appreciate them! You can be praying that we can all really show the love of Christ to these four precious families who have served us so well!

Culture Night!

We just had so much fun at Culture Night, Learning tons about Guatemala, enjoying some awesome food, and playing some super fun games! Our kids might be just a little bit competitive :-)

Appropriate Technology & Special Education Sites

Appropriate Technology

 

At the Appropriate Technology site, we have been making molds for the stoves for the past couple days.  Carlos, our site leader, has had our site focused on making stoves because it is extremely beneficial to the Guatemalans here.  Many families who just use a simple wood fire to cook their food have a higher likelihood of health problems in the future, since using a wood fire is equivalent to smoking 6 packs of cigarettes a day.  However, the stoves our site is making reduce the smoke inhalation by 90%, which is absolutely amazing!  Carlos describes our site as a means for meeting both physical and spiritual needs.  Every family is required to attend "discipleship meetings" before receiving a stove, and our site does house visits to check in on how well the stoves are working as well as asking how the families themselves are doing and offering to pray for them.  Appropriate Technology does not only make stoves but also seeks to share Jesus with and minister to as many families as possible.



One amazing story was a house visit in San Miguel.  We visited to check up on the stove that had already been installed, not realizing that we were about to be blessed beyond measure.  This impoverished family of 3 kids, a mom, and a dad (who is having a hard time finding work) gave each member of the site 4 duraznos (peaches) out of their immense hospitality.  Our site simply visited because Carlos wanted us to see a recently installed stove, but the family blessed us instead.  Each peach was worth quite a bit of money for this family, and they just gave them to us! (4 peaches x 6 site members = 24 peaches...that's crazy!)  It was such a huge blessing to both of us that this family struggling with their own needs were so very generous to us!


- Kyle Bui and James Calvin

Special Education

 

At the Special Education site, we work with all sorts of people such as those with autism, down syndrome, turrets.

Each day is a new experience as you never know what to expect.  There are schedules that are different for certain students.  Our oldest is 41 years old and our youngest is about 9 years old, and our students have hearts of pure gold!  It's so very hard to describe their behavior, but all I can say is that they have a form of joy that I have never encountered.

The first student I met was named Saúl.  Every time he sees me on the street, he will run to me with open arms excited to hug me.  These students, although they have behavioral problems and physical disabilities or a difficult time speaking, have the ability to warm up anyone's heart.  I've fallen in love with all of my students, and I've only met most of them once!  It's a privilege to help them learn and understand what or how some of them think.  You need a lot of patience with these students, but it's all worth it to see the big smiles on their faces.  Our number one goal at our site is to help all of our students achieve their life goals.  Whether it's being a bus driver or owning a car wash, we are constantly saying, "¡Si se puede!"


- Kristine Rivas

It’s a New Day!

Those who weren’t feeling well yesterday are doing better this morning! Thank you for your prayers; God is faithful and continues to watch over our team! Some of our kids were able to lead worship this morning, which blessed the whole group. 

After hearing a testimony from one of the leaders of the Special Education site this morning, we will grab our lunches and head out to our sites. Then this afternoon, we’ll be finishing with our sites early because there’s an optional special hike to the top of the mountain in the community where we’ve been staying. During that time, we should also be able to catch up with our blog ;) Thank you for all your patience and prayers!

Tuesday

Sorry, everyone! Today was a little crazy and Wi-Fi for the laptop was not available. So we’re still here but would appreciate your continued prayers for us as a few are feeling under the weather. But God is good and still in control!!

Monday

Currently, the teams have finished at their sites for the day and are relaxing a little bit, while others are practicing for leading worship during devo time on Wednesday. So, there was just a little time to get out a quick hello to you all! 

Thankfully, the team is staying pretty healthy. But today was a little overcast with some rain, and a marine layer came in pretty quickly tonight, so we would appreciate your prayers that they continue to stay strong.

In just a few minutes, we’ll be heading back to our homes for dinner with our host families, which we’re pretty excited about! Then we’ll be coming back together for another team time opportunity. Starting tomorrow, particular sites will be spotlighted from the team members that are serving in each, so that all of you back home can get a better picture of what our life down here looks like. 

¡Buenas noches, everyone!

Back to Sites!

The kids have coffee and are ready to get back to their sites today after a time of worship together and time in the Word!!

Last night after an afternoon/evening in Antigua shopping and having dinner together at a rooftop crepe restaurant (which was SO good), the team was challenged to take a break from card games and take some time with the Lord to pray and read and journal then get some good sleep to be ready for whatever He has for them in their sites this week! Maggie established an “Affirmation Day” today, so we’re also going to be intentional to reach out and love on each other and the other teams as well! 

Thank you for continuing to follow us on our trip and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers! We appreciate all of you! Happy Monday :)