Guatemala 2012

Matt and I and 24 of our closest friends were able to travel to Guatemala City, Guatemala last week for a Mission Trip. We were gone from Saturday July 7th - Saturday July 14th. Our trip had 3 major jobs to do. 1. build a roof structure for a church plant about an hour outside the city. 2. Have a VBS each day for the Kyrios Kids school we help support, and 3. Paint as much as possible the building the downtown church is now using. I am happy to report we accomplished 1 and 2 and we got a great deal painted and were able to financially support a local painter to finish what we ran out of time for.

We met at the airport Saturday morning at 3:30 am! Matt, Taylor, and I didn't sleep any friday night. Matt and Taylor went to a Red Sox game while I snuggled my kids and quadrouple checked my own packing. :) The flights went smoothly with only minor annoyances. Once we arrived in Guatemala City we were driven to our hotel to check in. Then it was time to head to the Teacher Appricipation Dinner at the Kyrios Kids school. It was a good dinner with some funny and some heartbreaking stories from the teachers.

Day Two: Sunday
Lukewarm shower. Then a van ride to the downtown church for breakfast then church services in Spanish and English. (part of our group went to the church service at the Kyrios Kids building) We began learning a few Spanish songs. Loved the singing! After services we went on a walk down the road to the fountain center. It was interesting to see the marketplace in town. Then it was back to the building for Lunch. More time to get to know people. Then Dinner. Then bed.

Day Three: Monday
Cold shower. Breakfast at downtown building. short devo/songs with BICA students. Then one van headed to Kyrios Kids to do the VBS, one van headed out of the city to work on the roof building, and one group stayed to begin the painting. VBS went well (Thanks to Iiliana - she Translated all week and saved us non-Spanish speaking gringos!) There were 137 kids. (5 classes) Each day we read a Bible story and talked about being super for God/ Then we sang a couple songs. They taught us one of their Spanish bible songs and we worked on teaching them Jesus Loves Me in English. After our big group time we split into their classrooms for crafts and coloring and handing out silly bands. We were there about 2 hours each day. Then it's back to the building for lunch then to help paint. We painted until dinner. Had dinner. Finally, went to the hotel where I went to bed and Matt stayed up playing cards for a while.

Day Four: Tuesday
Mostly same as Monday. Fun was had by many while painting. Jokes played. Paint roller wars. Pictures taken. Songs sang.

Day Five: Wednesday
Mostly same as Monday and Tuesday.