Projects Begin

We arrived safely at the "Source of Hope" school in Zapote - and appear to have a reliable internet connection - yeah! The header picture of the blog shows the school and the new playground - which was removed from a playground in the US, refurbished and bought to Zapote (along with the one at the Oasis, it's probably one of the nicest in Guatemala). Our work projects at the school include:
1. Putting up screening around the team rooms to keep out mosquitoes and bats.
2. Constructing cabinets and shelves for the missionary apartments.
3. Building a block wall around some pump equipment to keep out kids and soccer balls.
4. Hanging some doors.
5. Various painting and repair projects.
Several challenges we face are the heat (temps in the 80s), dust from construction and the volcano, and not having all the tools and supplies we need. As we are an hour and a half from any real city we can't just run to the store and get what we need! Despite these challenges we made a good start on everything today.

Monday Pics

Sunday Activities

Today was a packed day! After breakfast we headed out to the 10:30 service at Galilea church (Pablo had already preached at the 8:30 service). We enjoyed an amazing time of worship with several songs we recognized. Pastor Pablo continued the "Home" series from New Hope Church with a strong message from Luke 11:37-54. Renae did a fantastic job translating for us, which was much appreciated! After church we headed out to Antigua and enjoyed lunch together, a time for some shopping, coffee, relaxing and sightseeing. In the evening we returned to the Oasis for what is always a highlight - supper in the houses with the girls. Despite the language barriers this is always a fun time with questions and answers in Spanglish, songs, photos and hugs. We were also blessed to have the girls pray for us. Now we have to pack our stuff for the coming work week - tomorrow we are heading out to the remote village of Zapote. We are not sure what awaits us there as we will be the first team to work and stay out at the school for a whole week. We are hoping that the internet connection will allow us to update the blog during the week - but there are no guarantees!

Sunday Pics

Pastor Pablo Preaching

Please pray for Pastor Pablo who will be preaching at 2 services tomorrow morning at Galilea church - one at 8:30am and one at 10:30am. By the way, we are on Central Standard Time here in Guatemala.

Baptism

Today, we drove about an hour and a half to a water park where we had the privilege of witnessing 8 girls from the Oasis get baptized. Corbey reminded the girls that when they accept Jesus as savior they become daughters of God, they are powerful, chosen for a purpose and clean! After the baptism we grilled burgers and had lunch together. Then the girls played in the river and went to the water park - some of the team also got wet! It was a long, hot day but a great experience for everyone and a good reminder of how God has completely changed the lives of these girls and renewed them by his grace.

Saturday Pics

Safe Arrival

We arrived safely! It is just after midnight and we are settling into our new accommodation at the Oasis. We have an early start tomorrow morning for an exciting adventure - we get to see some of the girls being baptized - it should be a great experience.

Heading Out

We fly out from MSP at 1:45pm today - we look forward to arriving in Guatemala at about 10:15pm this evening - thanks for your prayers for safe travel.

Team Update

Unfortunately, Neil Johnson is not able to join us on the trip this year but we are delighted that Lisa Bodkin will be coming with us instead!