My thoughts are racing right now as I prepare to leave tomorrow..did I say that right ? TOMORROW!! So much anticipation and preparation and anxiety goes into this trip that is now my 9th time of taking students to this BEAUTIFUL place Guatemala. Last night we had a bbq/sendoff at my place that celebrated our going, and had Pastor Dennis Doane here to share with us some scripture and insight to the work we were about to do. He shared from Psalm 31:5 "Into your hands I commit my spirit" .... (I commit ...my work, my visitation, my stay with host families, my vaccinations, artwork, etc..) So insightful and a great sendoff for our work there. We go to bless, and will end up being blessed so much more from going. Praise the Lord for this opportunity! Becca Mellema was also here to share about her experience in Antigua at language school and also as a missionary with CRWRC for 5 months. Her sharing was motivating to say the least. It was so good to hear from someone who experienced Guatemalan life and also language school.
So.....week one will be upon us very soon. Once we arrive, we will meet our host families and will get settled into our homes.
Students there for the first week are: Megan and Mitchell Borges, Kaitlyn Erickson, Courtney Branderhorst, Taylor Vos, Ruby
Koetsier, Anna Leyendekker, Katherine Grimmius, Tara Zwart, Alexa Blundell, Taylor Boyle,
Ethan Boyle, Katrina Vanden Brink, Mason Peck, Kris Hopper, Rick Bagley and myself.
Joining us on June 10 are: Steve Gann, Todd Griffin, Skyler Griffin, Martha Monica Rivera, Antonia Sarria, Chandler Mainord, Blake
Rocha and Karianne Aukeman.
We all leave together on June 22. We covet your prayers as we are there and as we travel.
Back to our task after we arrive: We will attend 4 hours of language school each morning Mon-Fri June 3-7. Each student will meet one
on one with a teacher. We will have 3 planned excursions during the week and on Wednesday, we will
be able to travel to an orphanage and deliver some donated shoes where my friend Hilmar Avila works
in a village called La Pinada. On Saturday, we will have a chance to go to the beach on the Pacific
ocean side with black sand. After we all attend bilingual church on Sunday in Antigua, we will head to
Magdalena either then or on Monday morning. Then we will be meeting up with the others in our
group in the evening.
Things will change and not all will go as planned, I'm sure but God knows the intent, and will shake things up a bit, but to be openminded is an important skill to have in such endeavors. BE OPEN to His will.
Then, the mission trip begins and the best part of our trip. Language school will help so much as we are given new host families in a different city Magdalena and will be set up with them before orientation and worksites begin on Wednesday, the 13th of June. Your students will be working in health care, agriculture, education, child sponsorship, microfinance, construction, art, sports, etc... So excited to be able to visit each site and see your kids in action working alongside the Students International staff and the native Guatemalans and even visiting families, learning to make tortillas, building a pig pen for them, etc..
We will live with them and alongside of them, meeting them where they are. I remember in orientation last year they did a skit to help us understand how to enter another culture. there were 3 boys, volunteers from our teams, and they were each given a carrot and a bowl. One boy received a grater/peeler, the other one a knife, and the third boy had nothing but the carrot. They needed to get them read y to cook. Ok, it was easy for boy #1, a bit harder but do-able for boy #2, and the boy #3 had a difficult time, but did it by biting off the edges. Story being... that the American way, using the grater is not the ONLY way to do it, and certainly may be easier, but not something to be forced. One year I was in Guatemala and noticed the families had their clothes hung out to dry on a clothesline, much like how my husband and I hang our clothes out in the summer. The only thing was, they hung them in-between the twines of rope rather than with clothespins like we use. I thought this was crazy and vowed that the next year THAT is what I could do, I could bless them with some American clothespins to make it easier for them!! HA! when I mentioned this to my dear friend and a man I respect immensely..Mario, he said, "But Connie, we here in Magdalena always have done it this way." Wow! I instantly felt horrible, that Who's to say that my way is better?, it's just different, and not better or worse. ..I definitely learned from that one!
My words to my students on the mission trip and week prior: SEIZE EVERY MOMENT/ take it all in! God's creation is so vast and so wide, we cannot comprehend it, and the richness and beauty of ALL He has created for us to learn from. Whether you are in language school or not doesn't matter, use the moments you are given as an opportunity to learn more about Him. I so love what I do, that I get to join you all on this journey.
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