Hello All,

We had to say goodbye to all the girls on Sunday. It's always bitter sweet. They run for hugs and looks of affirmation as they headed off to church and we headed to the airport. What an amazing time we're had here. We look forward to sharing it all with you...

It was a long day of travel today but we're home safe! Only a small mishap, see the picture below. Delta wonderfully ended up replacing this bag for us. Nice, we appreciated that.

Thank  you everyone for helping make this missions opportunity a success and for all your support...


God Bless!

The 2017 Guatemala Team.

Good bye for now...

Sunday - We're coming home today!!!  Last night we were able to treat nearly all of the Oasis staff and several other missionaries to dinner out. We visited all evening and heard of so many blessings and sweet stories. All in all, a wonderful week and a great way to end. We will arrive home very late this evening. As always, it's so nice to come home.

Thank you all again for all your prayers and support during this week. Look for an invite in the coming weeks to attend the Guatemala mission trip meal and team update.

Blessings,


Doug

Friday was a short day of work but very fruitful. All the jobs we started earlier in the week came to completion today. The building of the team room cabinets, sink base and desk area. The building of the storage shelves for an office and large shelf units for each of the 10 classrooms. And not to mention all the painting for these, oh the painting and then plumbing. Then there was the main dining hall tiling and the addition of a new sink out in the courtyard area. Ah and let's not forget all the electrical work Dave and Neil completed at the Esther house. Many pictures below... The team working together accomplished so much. After cleaning up of all of our work areas we had lunch and said our good byes. The trip back to the Oasis is pretty long but it felt so good to get back to the 7000 foot temperature of 75 degrees after our days in the 90’s in Zapote. The girls were back from school already so a good game of soccer started for all. We cleaned up for a planned pizza party with the girls at 6:30pm and enjoyed seeing them dig in as they do. They devoured many pizzas and we laughed so much ending the evening with a bon fire and s’mores. A few of us hung by the fire for some reflection time after the girls headed in to bed. What a wonderful blessed week!

Andrea and Sandy playing with the school girls.

several of us got these notes from the teachers thanking us...

 office shelving added...

 The team room new counter and desk areas and new shelving, along with a new sink.

 A picture of the volcano as we left Zapote.

 Preparing for the pizza feast...

 Andrea with one of the Oasis babies...

 Pizza, Pizza, Pizza....   so much fun!

Electrical work at casa Esther

 The roof was replaced and all the electrical was just cobbled together... Neil and Dave rewired the whole house.

 Casa Esther

Oh yes, and fixed the toilet there too.

 

 

Greetings from Zapote! We had a good day today. Starting with Doug we had our morning devotions and continued on with the work all that was waiting for us. We finished off the cabinets that we were assigned to build and we installed most of them today. The rest will follow tomorrow. The team room now has a new counter top with a sink and desk for three. What a change and it will be used by every team that comes. We installed many of the ten book shelves in the classrooms. We are now all fairly healthy now which is an answer to prayer. Thank you! 

We hope to finish all our assigned jobs tomorrow morning, so we can head back to the oasis in the afternoon. We are still looking for our two lost members who disappeared back to the Oasis (Dave and Neil) We have not seen them since Tuesday. They have actually been busy doing needed electrical work back in San Lucas.

We ended the evening with a good supper together and devotions on 1 Peter by Sandy. I have enjoyed listening to the different devotionals by various members of our team. It’s one the things I will miss when we head home.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Dan

Note: we did not have access to the internet last evening so we were not able to post to the blog until now. J
 

More painting

 Working the sink in the court yard

Classroom shelving unit goes up.

 Visit to the local tidenda

Out exploring Zapote

After a long day of work...

more painting...

talking with one of the school boys.

 Where's our electrician when we need him

Working on the team room new counter top area

and more painting...

yes, you guessed it... more painting...  and Andrea is still smiling.

out for some sight seeing.

not sure what this used to be but it was so cool to see this very old water wheel...

nice over look...

old old water wheel

Wow, what a day it’s been! Regretfully some are still not feeling well, not quite at 100% but we were still able to get much done regardless. The team is working so well together! This is a sweet answer to prayer as we continue to ask for unity… we are all getting along great. More cabinets were built for nearly every classroom. Also, cabinets were readied for the team room where we gather regularly. It was ideal to have a sink in this room as one was not in place yet but now will be completed by the end of the week.

Each of the many cabinets built needed several coats of paint prior to being ready to hang. Lots of ongoing work there as the troopers painted on and on. Then a dirt area was cemented up late yesterday adding a step added for safety. This setup for the addition of a new sink outside the school building for the younger grades to brush their teeth closer to their classrooms. Then some remaining tile work was completed in the main dining hall entrance. This was challenging as the school is busy with many feet passing though these doors most every second of the day. We ended this workday with a team meal, which was followed by a wonderful devotion time. We were all able to share and talk about how God gives us exactly what we need when we need it.

It is such a joy to see the kids line up early in the morning and sing songs to God. What a pleasure it is to see these kids as they pass by us with smiles and hands out for a high five or a fist bump. Or they tap us on the shoulder as they pass by giggling. God is clearly present here as there is joy on every face. Frequently students stop to help us out. (See pictures below)

Thank you all for your prayers! It is shaping up to be an awesome week...

 
Ariel shot of Source of Hope school in Zapote

Starting the extra sink for brushing teeth

Helper with painting

 Finishing up the new cement pour

 Chris and Kory working on cabinetry

 Dan and Brian building cabinets

 Lowell painting and having fun!

 Andrea painting

 School kids helping out

 Sandy and Megan playing with tile

 

 

 

 

Tuesday dawned bright and sunny, with a clear view of volcano Fuego. We were touched early in the morning by the earnest prayers and songs from all the students gathered on the small cement "courtyard" of the Source of Hope School. They exhibit such joy and all seem to relish the opportunity to learn and participate.

The Team got busy with the work at hand here in Zapote: cabinet building, painting, cement work, plumbing etc. Neil and Dave returned to San Lucas with missionary Doug Johnson to attend to some needs at the Independence House, the home of the older Oasis girls. They recently had a new roof installed replacing the old rotted one and so there are some details involved there for a day or so.

Back here at the school, we had a long day working in the heat but are moving ahead to address the needs here for the students and missionaries. Two or three of our team members are dealing with potential mild illnesses or issues related to the heat and smoke from a close by burning barrel so we would appreciate your prayers for a return to health and mission effectiveness. 

Thanks for praying!

Tim

Visiting a local bus stop in Zapote.

Kids at Zapote school lining up for assembly

Lots of smiles...

Viewing the kids gathering as they sing together.

 

Good evening from Source of Hope School in Zapote.

We were up bright and early this morning, packing gear and materials for four days of work at Source Of Hope School (a remote town destination 1.5 hours from The Oasis). Initial plans are to build a variety of cabinets and shelving for school rooms, install cabinetry and sink in the missionary space and to build screens for the windows to keep the smaller critters outside! Possibly more important than the rest of the manual labor, we’re also photographing all of the school children to assist KAG/Galilea Church with fundraising needs for Source of Hope.

Yesterday I was touched by a discussion with one of the local missionaries. The conversation revolved around the term “Poverty” and the various meanings of that term. In the US, we tend to think of poverty in financial terms. Certainly, an inability to purchase the things desired or necessary for physical sustenance is an example of poverty…but poverty can be so much more than that. Poverty of opportunity, poverty of education, poverty of social connection, poverty of security… these “poverties” are often more sinister and more difficult to overcome than financial poverty alone. The town of Zapote and the kids at Source of Hope School represent the extremes of virtually all the above forms of poverty. Yet, in the midst of this poverty, God’s grace and his provision are truly on display. The Source of Hope School provides education these children would not otherwise have. Through the school the kids are provided quality learning along with two meals a day, vitamins, dental hygiene and medical care. Even more importantly, these kids are taught about the love of a Holy God. They are taught about salvation. They are taught the gospel story. They are taught that they matter and that they are loved….the hands and feet of Christ are on the move serving these kids and these kids are on the move teaching and modeling for their families throughout the surrounding town. After driving through the town of Zapote and then arriving at the Source of Hope School, you can see a difference in the kids that attend the school. They are healthier. They have bright smiles and positive attitudes. They have a gleam in their eyes that is not found around them.

Poverty comes in many forms….but poverty of faith in Christ is truly the greatest poverty. Here in Zapote, they’re on the visible front lines in this poverty battle. Please join us in praying not only for our efforts here in Zapote to be effective in serving KAG and Source of Hope, but more importantly for all of the missionaries, teachers, social workers and medical teams representing the hands and feet of Christ in this community.

Pray for the kids at Source of Hope that they would be able to overcome their poverties in all forms. Most of all, pray that God would be glorified here!

 

Chris Shedd


Early morning getting ready to leave for Zapote

Cool tree at the Oasis...

Kory enjoying our meal in the evening at the Source of Hope School. I'll let him share what we had...  The fruit is awesome!

 Whole team hunting for 'everything' we might need in Zapote

 Would you believe we ran into some road construction on our way to Zapote.  :)

 

Picturesque view on the way...

The school kids wanted to help out unloading our luggage...   Amazing!

 Tim taking all the kids pictures at the Source of Hope school in Zapote