Week 3 + Excursión Familiar

On Sunday the 16th I visited the church that Renae (my apartment-mate) goes to here in town called Iglesia Galilea. I'm probably going to go there for the rest of my weekends here. Then after church two sisters, Rebekah and Elisabeth, arrived at the Oasis. Rebekah was an intern here in 2009 and Elisabeth interned elsewhere in Guatemala that summer. Rebekah has been back to visit most summers since then, but this was the first time Elisabeth came with her. They stayed here the whole week.
Later in the afternoon a short-term team from Tennessee came to the Oasis just for the afternoon. They spent a week in Guatemala but just that one day at the Oasis. They did crafts with the girls (friendship bracelets and coloring) and then played outside with them. The day started out sunny and warmer than usual, but as we were playing outside some clouds rolled in, making it really foggy and suddenly chilly. We kept playing outside until an enormous torrential downpour drove us all indoors!

The team playing soccer with the girls in spite of the fog and chilliness

On Monday, Mike & Sandi Glick (Camino Global missionaries) visited the Oasis, along with Karin Benningfield (Camino's short-term coordinator) and her husband, Cecil. Karin and Cecil live in Texas, where Camino's headquarters are, but they were visiting Guatemala for the week. I was in contact with Karin a lot during the months leading up to my arrival in Guatemala, but this was my first time meeting her in person! Mike, Sandi and Karin all know Rebekah and Elisabeth, so they were able to see all three of us in one visit. :-)

Left to Right: Karin, Elisabeth, Mike, Sandi, me, Rebekah

On Tuesday a new girl arrived during lunchtime. She is 6 years old and adorable! She spent much of the week up in our office doing puzzles and playing games with us because we didn't have too much work this week and she doesn't have a school to go to at the moment.

Elisabeth doing a puzzle with the new girl

Wednesday was the most exhausting and stressful day for me since I got here. It was mostly just a combination of little factors, but also it had a lot to do with the fact that I didn't get enough rest the night before. After a long day, I spent the evening reading El caballo y el muchacho, which is the Spanish translation of The Horse and His Boy from the Chronicles of Narnia. I checked it out of the library here.

On Thursday I taught física (gym class) again. This week we (they) played soccer.

This past weekend Mike and Sandi picked me up so I could join them for their annual Excursión Familiar, or family excursion. Every year they take families from Guatemala City who live around the city dump on a day trip to a place outside the city. These families live in a very poor, dangerous part of the city, and for many of the families this is the only time they're able to get out of the city for a day. There is a requirement that if there is a male involved in the family, he must attend or else the whole family can't go. Because of this there have been more men in attendance every year! Once at the place, there is a bit of free time, then everyone gets split up into groups -- men, women, youth, children -- for a gospel presentation/discussion time. Then everyone is served lunch and then we have a couple hours of free time. This year we went to Finca El Edén, about an hour away from Guate (nationals' nickname for Guatemala City). It's a lovely place, with a river running through it, a pool, basketball court, soccer field, pavilions, palm trees, etc. About 160 people came -- we all crammed into two school buses. Many of us spent our free time in the pool because it was hot and humid outside, but then it rained pretty hard after lunch so that cooled us all off, too. Here are some pictures from the day:

School bus packed full. Most of us had to sit three to a seat.

Finca El Edén. This place is beautiful!

Lauren (a fellow Camino intern) and I made a huge tub of guacamole to serve with the lunch.

Cooling off and having fun in the pool.

Many of the youth and some youth leaders from the Glicks' church, plus Rob (another Camino intern) and me.

It poured after lunch, but that didn't keep people from enjoying the pool :)

The piñatas in this country are enormous -- at least twice the size of any of the kids!

Sometime this week will mark the halfway point of my time in Guatemala. It's hard to believe that one month from today I'll be back home in Lancaster. I already love this place and the people here, and spending four more weeks here is only going to make it harder to leave!

Here's how you can be praying:

• Pray for my health. My stomach did a good job adjusting to the new food right off the bat, but then last weekend and tonight I got pretty sick. I know it's fairly typical for travelers to become ill while adjusting to a new culture, but knowing that doesn't make it any more comfortable or enjoyable. Being sick is a humbling experience, too. No one looks good when they're sick! So in that sense it's good for me, but I think I would prefer a different way of learning humility! haha
• Keep praying for healing for the girls. The more time I spend here, the more my eyes are opened to what the girls have gone through and are still going through. Their past abuse sometimes leads to physical self-destructive behavior, along with plenty of emotional scars/side effects and spiritual issues. After exchanging friendship bracelets we made for each other, a sweet 10-year-old girl suddenly told me, almost nonchalantly, that her dad had touched her, and she basically said she doesn't care about him and she doesn't know if she can forgive him, even though that's what she has been told she should do. Honestly, I don't know how anyone could possibly forgive their father in a situation like that without first understanding the depth and magnitude of God's love and forgiveness toward us, and the hope that we have because of Jesus, in spite of all the horrible sin and pain in this world. So pray for these girls, that they would believe and be transformed by the gospel and be able to forgive their abusers.
• Pray for enough rest, energy, patience and wisdom for loving and serving the girls each day.
• Pray for the families who attended the Excursión Familiar and heard the gospel message. Pray that the truth about Jesus would impact not only individuals but also entire families. Pray that they would recognize and choose to live in the freedom and hope that Jesus offers.

** Click HERE to see more pictures from this week! **

Week 2 at Oasis

Week 2 at the Oasis was pretty similar to the first week in terms of routine, but of course every day looks a little bit different in terms of the work I do or the people I hang out with, so life at the Oasis is never dull. ;-)

On Sunday I went to church with the girls for the first time. And in typical Guatemalan style, the pastor had me introduce myself to the congregation because I was a visitor. I don't enjoy speaking in front of large groups, even if just to introduce myself briefly, but in this culture it is their way of honoring their guests. After church the girls and I played outside for a while as we waited for our ride home. Since we only use one van on Sundays, the girl who drives it has to make multiple trips to take the 50ish girls + 10ish tías to and from church, which makes for a lot of waiting around and thus a lot of time to play!

Playing outside after church

Piling into the van to go home

Monday through Friday mostly consisted of the usual office work (a lot of translation and other sponsorship-related tasks) and playing with the girls at the Oasis, except for Tuesday, when I went to Fuente de Esperanza school in the village of Zapote again. They are working on adding a second story to their school building, so we and the students spent much of the morning transferring a large pile of cinder blocks from the front of the school into the schoolyard -- block by block. Even with dozens of helping hands, the job took a while. After we finished, Renae and I performed a short skit during Corbey's devotional for the 5th, 6th and 7th graders. (Renae is the missionary I'm sharing an apartment with, and Corbey is the director of the Oasis.) I'm probably the worst actor I know, but we had fun with it and I think it was helpful to the kids for illustrating Corbey's message.

The cinder blocks' starting point, in front of the school.

Some of the older boys managed to carry up to five at a time! And they are a lot heavier than they look.

Everyone helped, even the little ones.

Corbey helping to arrange the blocks at their final destination (for now).

On Thursday I taught gym class again. This week I taught the girls how to play Knock Out! They enjoyed it and caught on very quickly. We called it "Eliminado" (eliminated) since they didn't know of the game already and I didn't know how else to translate "Knock Out" haha

Girls playing Knock Out

Weekends are really laid-back at the Oasis. The girls aren't at school so many of them play outside, and I don't have work so I'm able to relax in my apartment, update my blog, play with the girls outside, etc. Here are some pictures from yesterday (Friday) afternoon and earlier today.

 

Pretend tea party :)

Expert tree climbers

Click HERE to see more pictures from this week!

My prayer requests are pretty similar to those from last week.

Please pray:

• That God will give me energy, patience and love when interacting with the girls -- some require more patience than others. ;-)
• That through Jesus and by means of this ministry the girls would experience holistic healing (physical, emotional, spiritual).
• For greater wisdom in understanding what the girls have been through, how that influences the way the behave, how I can effectively serve & love them, etc.

Thank the Lord that:

• My cold is pretty much better at this point.
• Living with Renae has kept me from feeling lonely -- something I was worried about before I got here and found out I would be sharing the apartment with her.

Week 1 at the Oasis

I've just about completed my first full week here at the Oasis! I arrived here on Monday morning after a couple days of orientation and sight-seeing (see previous post). Unfortunately I started developing a cold the morning I got here, but that hasn't prevented me from falling in love with this place and the wonderful people here!

The view that greeted me when I first arrived. This place is beautiful!

I've learned a lot about the Oasis as a ministry since I've arrived. I'm still learning a lot and might not have all my facts straight, but here's what I understand at the moment. The Oasis is a ministry of Kids Alive International, or as we call it in Spanish, Vida Para Niños. The Oasis is a site that houses girls (current age range is 4-17ish) who have experienced various kinds of abuse. There are currently 48 girls here and about 10 tías who live with them, as well as a handful of missionaries and staff who work here. (I've already mastered around 30 of the girls' names! Hopefully I'll know all of them by the end of next week.) The ministry provides for the girls' basic needs, such as safety/protection, a home (there are 5 houses on the compound), food, a warm shower, an education, etc., as well as counseling and psychological services, spiritual care, and most importantly, love. Another component of the ministry is its partnership with a church in the village of Zapote to run a school called Fuente de Esperanza ("source of hope"). Through the school and the work of the local church, the students there are able to receive a good, free education as well as benefit from occasional medical clinics. Another part of the ministry is Casa Ester, which is a transition home where the girls at the Oasis can live after they turn 18. They continue in their schooling but also must find a job to get some work experience. The most recent component of the ministry is a program called Keeping Families Together, which allows the administration at the Oasis to keep track of the girls who leave so they know how they're doing, make sure they're not re-entering abusive situations, etc. You can read more about the various ministries via this website.

Recess time at Fuente de Esperanza school in Zapote

Three girls at the Oasis

Before I arrived at the Oasis I wasn't quite sure what my duties as an intern would be. So far I have mostly been helping with administrative tasks, although there is still plenty of time to spend with the girls throughout the day and after the work day is over. In the office I have been helping with some sponsorship-related tasks, like translating letters from English-speaking sponsors into Spanish, as well as some other random tasks. Oh, and they're also having me teach gym class to some of the girls on Thursdays, which is kind of funny because I'm not really athletic at all, but I had fun doing it this past Thursday! I didn't expect to be doing full-time administrative work, but I'm actually enjoying the work a lot. And like I said, I still get plenty of time to interact with the girls and get to know them. It also helps that I'm living in an apartment on site at the Oasis with one of the missionaries, so I live really close to the girls and I don't have to worry about transportation or anything.

Inside my apartment

The view from my apartment window!

The weather here is beautiful. Even though Guatemala is closer to the equator, the Oasis is located 7,000 feet above sea level so the weather isn't unbearably hot. It's typically very pleasant during the day and actually gets pretty chilly overnight. It's also the rainy season right now, which means it will rain (often downpour) almost every afternoon or evening. But the daytimes are absolutely gorgeous, with plenty of sunshine and big puffy clouds.

Click HERE to see more photos from this week!


Please pray:

• For quick/complete recovery from my cold
• For energy to show the girls Christ's love as I spend a lot of time with them
• That the girls would be freed from fear, shame, hatred, resentment, emotional scars, etc. and that through Jesus those things would be replaced with genuine love, forgiveness, trust, holistic healing.
• That God would give me wisdom in effectively loving and serving the girls according to their physical, spiritual, emotional needs
• That I would continue getting a firmer grasp on the language so I can communicate better with everyone here. Thankfully it's been going pretty well so far, but I still have a lot of room for improvement.

  

Orientation

Disclaimer: Don't be intimidated by the length of this post. Most of it is pictures! haha J

On Thursday the 30th I flew out of Baltimore in the morning, had a 4ish hour layover in Miami, and finally made it safe and sound to Guatemala around 9pm local time (which is 2 hours behind EDT). Mike and Sandi, the Camino Global missionaries, picked me up at the Guatemala City airport. Their daughter Maria and another intern, Katelyn, were with them as well. We stayed in a guest house overnight in Mixco (just outside Guatemala City), about a 5 minute drive from the Glicks house. On Friday the 31st we drove to Antigua (city neighboring Guatemala City), where we did some sight-seeing and picked up Lauren, another intern. Katelyn, Lauren and I are all doing 8-week internships but in different locations in Guatemala. We've been together since Thursday/Friday for orientation and sight-seeing these past few days, and tomorrow morning we head to our respective locations for the next 7ish weeks! Here are some more details about the past few days, along with pictures (click on the pictures to enlarge them).

THURSDAY the 30th.

Guatemala City from above, just before landing. Since it's rainy season in Guatemala, I enjoyed watching a thunderstorm in the clouds (from a distance, thankfully) while we were still in the air! For those who don't know, I absolutely love thunderstorms. J

FRIDAY the 31st.

Lookout point over the city of Antigua on Friday. This place is called Cerro de la Cruz (hill of the cross).

Lunch on Friday after we picked up Lauren in Antigua. She was at a language school there for 2 weeks before Katelyn and I arrived in Guatemala. (Clockwise from left: Lauren, Sandi, Mike, Maria, Katelyn.)

Lauren, Katelyn and me in front of Cathedral  Merced in Antigua.

San Francisco Cathedral in Antigua, with ruins on the right side from an old monastery.

The ruins at San Francisco.

The iconic arch in Antigua.

After spending the day in Antigua, we went to Mike and Sandi's house for dinner. And, of course, I had to befriend their dog, Maya. J

SATURDAY June 1st.

Lauren, Katelyn and I had some fun on a couple rope swings we passed in a park on our way up to a lookout point over Guatemala City.

It was pretty cloudy up at the lookout point so we could barely make out Guatemala City.

Here's a non-foggy view of Guatemala City from the highway.

For lunch we stopped in Mixco at Pollo Campero, a popular fast-food chicken restaurant. It was started in Guatemala but now has restaurants in other parts of Central America, Mexico and the U.S.

The central park in Guatemala City.

A cathedral next to the park (so many cathedrals!). In Guatemala, there is always a cathedral to the east of the central park in each city, with the government buildings along the other sides of the park.

The President's Palace along the north side of the central park.

Mike and Sandi drove us through the cemetery in Guatemala City. It's the biggest cemetery I've ever been in, almost like its own little town, with legit streets that run through it. All of the tombs are original (as far as I could tell...didn't see any cookie-cutter tombs), and quite beautiful--although a sad/somber type of beauty, of course.

Another view of the cemetery.

We walked to the edge of the cemetery, which looks out over the city dump.  It's one of the largest in Central America. There were scores of vultures in the heaps of trash and circling above. Many people also rummage through the garbage in search of anything of value. People in Guatemala get paid to recycle, so people often look for plastics, metals, etc. among the heaps. According to a documentary Mike and Sandi showed us, those yellow trucks deliver the equivalent of 35 Boeing 737 airplanes of trash to the dump every day.

On Saturday evening Mike took us to La Luz Brilla ("the light shines"), a women's transitional home that Mike and Sandi run. Mike showed us around the place and introduced us to the young women who live there. He also picked a bunch of mangoes from the mango tree in the backyard, one of which I got to take with me and I'm looking forward to eating at some point. J

SUNDAY the 2nd.
This morning (Sunday) we went to Mike and Sandi's church. When Mike picked up Lauren, Katelyn and me, he already had a few of the young women from La Luz Brilla in the car. Then we stopped by a children's home to pick up several teens who live there. We managed to fit 12 people in the 5-seater SUV! But don't be too impressed, apparently their record is 21 people!! Yep, driving is a whole different ball game here in Guatemala. Whatever driving laws are in place don't seem to be followed very closely or enforced very strictly. Driving is pretty much like a real-life video game here. It's terrifying but thrilling at the same time. haha

At church, the pastor had Katelyn, Lauren and I introduce ourselves to everyone (about 50ish people? I'm not good at estimating numbers of people). Anyway, after finding out I speak Spanish, the pastor then asked me if I would say a prayer over the children, who had gathered at the front of the room before heading off somewhere else during the sermon. I have adequate Spanish-speaking skills, but praying in Spanish was not easy because it wasn't the vocabulary I'm most familiar with. But at least God knows what was on my heart, and one of the young women from La Luz Brilla told me afterward I did a good job, so that was encouraging (not that praying is a "job" to be done well, but that I communicated effectively in Spanish so the congregation could understand me). By the way, Lauren also speaks Spanish, but she had her turn being put on the spot two Sundays ago since she came early for language classes in Antigua. ;-)

The worship team at church getting ready to start the service.

After church the 12 of us in the SUV got tacos for lunch, stopped at the grocery store (first time I got to spend some of the Quetzales I exchanged at the bank on Friday), and then went to Mike and Sandi's house for Bible study/youth group and to hang out for a bit. I got to speak in Spanish with many of the people and get to know them a bit. They're really neat and a lot of fun. I'm kind of bummed I have to leave here tomorrow and won't see them again until the end of July before I head back to the States. But I'm also excited to head to the Oasis tomorrow so I can finally meet the people I'll be serving and living with for the next 7 weeks!


Here is a Facebook album with more photos from orientation. You should be able to view it even if you don't have a Facebook account.


Here's how you can be praying for me:

• Pray that I would genuinely love the girls I'll be living with at the Oasis and the missionaries who are the directors there (not Mike and Sandi - a different couple whom I haven't met yet).
• Romans 12:9 "Let love be genuine."
• 1 Thessalonians 3:12 "May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all."
• Pray that I would constantly refocus my mind and heart on God throughout the busyness of each day.
• Pray for health and safety (this will pretty much be an ongoing prayer request J).
• Pray for me as I adjust to a new setting at the Oasis and settle into life there.

You can also ask the Lord to lead you in how to pray for me because at this point it's still hard for me to know exactly what to ask prayer for.