Less than 30 days now before we leave

The excitement is growing as the team meets regularly for preparation, planning and prayer. Immunizations are being double checked by us all, along with travel plans and packing details. Most every team member has some unique activities to complete prior to our departure. Team fund raising has reached 74% so we are not quite fully funded. Here's an online link if you would like to give electronically

https://newhopechurchmn.ccbchurch.com/form_response.php?id=296

A huge thank you to all our Guatemala partners who have so generously contributed and are willing to pray for the team. Tim Oberg and Neil Johnson are coordinating the team this year as we all look forward to what God has planned for us.

Home

We left Guatemala City early Sunday morning with temperatures in the mid 50s and arrived home safely late Sunday afternoon with temperatures in Minneapolis surprisingly in the mid 50s! It was a great week and we praise God for good health, no injuries, travel safety and his favor and blessing on everything we did. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and financial support for this wonderful ministry.

Soccer, Pizza, Bonfire and Showers

We arrived safely back at the Oasis on Friday afternoon which gave us some time to hang out with the girls and enjoy another game of soccer (of course), pizza and a bonfire...with smores (of course).
We were also able to take much needed showers as the power and water never came back on in Zapote!

Finished projects

We managed to complete all our projects by Friday morning including the mosquito/bat protection, cabinets, shelves, painting, walls, doors, bathroom repairs and even fixed a basketball hoop. The main purpose of our construction work this week has been to make life a little more safe and comfortable for both the missionaries and the kids at the school - it has been a blessing for us to be able to do that.

Other Ministry

Pastor Pablo returned to Zapote today and was able to report back on some of the great meetings he has had with local pastors. We will post more on this when he has had a chance to share with the team his experiences of the last couple of days. In addition to Pablo's exciting opportunities, Sandy also had a chance today to share about "Prayer Transformation Ministry" with the staff at the Oasis. We are looking forward to hearing more about this and seeing how God might use this amazing ministry here in Guatemala.

Other Pics from Thursday

Electrical Action

Today was an interesting day in regard to electricity - sorry you missed it Neil :( At about 6:30 this morning we noticed smoke coming out of one of the electrical poles. This quickly led to some loud popping, sparking and eventually flames. Obviously this caused the power to go out at the school. As flames continued to work their way up the pole a large crowd gathered outside as kids started to arrive for school. At this point we decided to take some action and Dan became the local hero as he climbed a ladder, threw some dirt to put out the flames and then separated the wires with a long bamboo stick. As the lower level of the school has a separate power supply the kids were able to return to school. The team on the other hand, on the upper level was left without power and water. We made the best of things by running some extension cords to the lower level so we could use some tools and continue the work. Despite some valiant efforts from a local electrician we are still without power and are going to bed without any lights or a shower. Everyone is doing just fine and enjoying the adventure - it's just like camping! We are hoping to get power restored tomorrow but are planning to return to the Oasis anyway. Make sure you check out the video below.

Work continues

After a night of rumblings - Fuego calmed down today...although a couple of explosions have been heard this evening. After sweeping the ash off everything - today was a pretty standard work day. The two missionary girls here were very excited that we put screens in their apartment so they can now have their windows open at night. Lisa attracted an audience of small children as she painted a logo on the outside of the school. Kory completed work on the doors and cabinet making continued - which is now consuming most of the team with cutting, painting, sanding and painting. There is also a team of students here this week from a Christian school in Texas - they are staying in San Lucas and driving in each day. Today they put on a VBS type program for the kids in the school...our team benefited when they served ice cream to everyone! The day concluded with a serious game of soccer - as usual the Guatemalans soundly defeated the "old guys" team from Los Estados Unidos. We are pleased to report that everyone is remaining healthy and so far no injuries or illness - we are grateful for your prayers and God's protection and blessing on our team and the ministry here.

Wednesday Pics

Daily Work Routine

We are now becoming familiar with our new accommodations and settling into our daily work routine. Within the school building are a couple of apartments, one where the missionaries live and one for service teams. We are sleeping in bunk beds with mosquito nets and wake up around 6:30am (the roosters have already been up for about 3 hours). Breakfast consists of cold cereal (with warm milk) and PBJ sandwiches (no toaster or refrigerator) followed by devotions at 7am - we begin work at 7:30am. Before the school day started we had the privilege of watching all the kids lineup in the playground, sing some worship songs and listen to a Bible story. 

The block was delivered early this morning so four of the team were able to complete two walls to protect some pump equipment from soccer balls. Other team members continued with the cabinet making, painting and filling holes to keep the bats out. We were also able to complete some minor repairs in the missionary apartment. Lunch and dinner are provided for us by the cooks and we eat here at the school - the food is generally very good. While working we are accompanied by the constant sound of the volcano erupting - it sounds like being in a continuous thunder storm that lasts all day and all night! This evening the ash cloud drifted over to us here at the school, covering EVERYTHING in a thick layer of ash. 

While the rest of the team was working here at Zapote today, Pastor Pablo returned to San Lucas to meet with Pastor Merari. The purpose of his trip was to build relationship with the Galilea church there and hear about their mission and vision to reach out into the local community with church planting, discipleship and the construction of more schools.