After completing our mission in El Zapatillo, we spent a day on the Rio Dulce and traveled to Livingston by boat. It was a grand trip. We had lunch in Livingston and then spent some time perusing the shops. As we were making our way back down the hill to the boat, I was walking [...]
It was time for our Vacation Bible School and all the children gathered in their chairs. The small chairs in front, then the medium sized chairs and then the large chairs in the back of the room. Each child chose a chair that fit them. It was one of the most organized groups of children [...]
One of the great ironies of life is that Beauty and Danger are best friends. I've never been one to shy from courting both Beauty and Danger and on this trip, it was par for the course. During my college years, I spent a summer working for my uncle and cousin in upstate New York. [...]
When we arrived in El Zapatillo we were directed to our sleeping quarters. The men were on the ground floor of the new preschool, the ladies in a small building. The ladies were fortunate to have a couple bunks. The guys brought blow-up mattresses and sleeping pads for the concrete floor. The buildings in El Zapatillo have [...]
When coming into a new place like this I never know what kind of reception there will be. Will we be welcomed here and what will we face. I felt right at home here in El Zapatillo among the people and our team. As we settled in, Victorio, a local elder in the village, collected [...]
Every year our youth get together with other churches (34 this year) in the area for 180 Weekend. It includes over 1,000 area youth. Last year we had a young man from our church make a commitment who graduated only a few weeks later. I wrote about this in My Friends Birthday. Tonight was my first [...]
We got up at 4am, grabbed our lunches and headed for the bus station for the ride to Rio Dulce. The comfort and convenience of the Guatemalan bus system that we used (http://www.litegua.com/) was surprising. It was clean, safe, and well run. Except for making three lanes out of two on the road and the [...]
There is something awe inspiring about this specific tree. With a massive trunk reaching to the heavens it stands tall above all the others. It tells all the other trees, "Here I am! I am what you should aspire to become. Grow and stand tall on your roots." If I were a member of the Swiss Family [...]
The bus was packed tight as was our luggage. The ride to the group home was slow, stop and go. The air was thick with exhaust fumes from the traffic and my lungs choked against the weight of the smog. The city was full of people. There were beautiful sections of the city that were [...]
Upon arriving in Guatemala City we gathered ourselves, our luggage and ventured through the doors into the streets. There were people everywhere standing around the doors and guards were pushing people back from the exit so we could get out of the building. I wasn't sure what to expect, but when you arrive in a [...]
