Week 5

This week was even more busy and interesting than the last. On Sunday an intern named Lauren arrived, and she'll be here for 2 weeks. Then on Monday morning the Glicks dropped off Erica, a fellow Camino Global intern who will be here for 3 weeks. Monday happened to be a Guatemalan holiday (Army Day or something), so Renae, Addie (another missionary), Lauren, Erica and I went out to lunch at San Martin, which is a restaurant + bakery. It was pretty crowded when we got there, so we explored the bakery section while we waited for a table to open up in the restaurant. There were fresh pastries and cakes and loaves of bread, and it smelled so good! The restaurant had a similar menu and atmosphere to Panera, but it was even better, in my opinion. We all loved what we ordered. After lunch, we couldn't help but go back to the bakery to buy some bread to take home. :-)

Addie, Erica, Renae and Lauren at San Martin

Thursday was another holiday at the Oasis: the 4th of July! There are several American missionaries who serve at the Oasis, plus the church team from Missouri was still there, so how could we not celebrate the USA's Independence Day? :-) We had a special lunch, complete with ice cream for dessert, and firecrackers and a piñata afterward! The piñata was Super Mario, but renamed/labeled "King George III" (Corbey's idea). In the evening Renae, Erica, Lauren and I decided to finish off the day with some American food -- Domino's pizza! Then after dark, the team from Missouri set off a few "real" fireworks (the high/colorful kind).

Saturday was filled with one exciting event after another. In the morning the team from Missouri left, but before they did, Renae and I went around to find the girls who some people on the team decided to sponsor. We broke the news to them -- the girls' reactions were precious! -- and then took a picture of each girl with her sponsor so we can give a copy to the girl and send one to her sponsor.

In the afternoon we had visiting hours at the Oasis, which happens once a month. It was fun to see the girls spending time with family members and to meet some of them.

Waiting to get checked in at the gate

At 3:00 Renae, Lauren, Erica and I left with Josh & Susan (missionary couple who serve at the Oasis) to go see a Despicable Me 2 (or Mi Villano Favorito 2, as it's called in Spanish) at a theater in Guatemala City. It started pouring just before we got there, and we couldn't avoid getting soaked when we got out of the car. When we finally made it to the theater (soaking wet), the line was incredibly long and we only had a few minutes until our intended show time. After waiting in line for a lifetime, we found out the next available show time wasn't until 6:30pm, and in IMAX and 3D, with only front row seats available (this movie theater has assigned seats). We decided to go ahead and get the tickets anyway, and we killed time before the movie by getting dinner at the food court, wandering around the mall that the theater is in, and finding an ice cream stand for dessert. The movie ended up being well worth it. I was worried I wouldn't understand it too well since it was all in Spanish, but thankfully that wasn't a problem. I also didn't get a headache or a stiff neck from sitting in the front row with 3D glasses. And even though my feet never quite dried out after the rain, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and spending time with the others. It was a fun evening!

Josh, Renae, Erica, Susan and Lauren.
SO WET but enjoying the adventure!

Heading to the theater to buy tickets

Killing time in the super nice mall before the movie

On Sunday, Mike and Sandi Glick picked up Erica and me so we could spend the day with them. They were hosting a team from LA for the week, so they wanted to use Erica at church as an interpreter, which she had also done for the team the previous Sunday while she was still in orientation with the Glicks before arriving at the Oasis. Erica's family is Salvadorian but they live near DC, so she is fluent in both English and Spanish. After church we all went out for lunch and then spent the afternoon and dinnertime at the Glicks' house. After dinner, since it was the team's last night in Guatemala, we all went back to the guest house where they were staying and did an activity that we called the "encouragement web" -- where they passed a ball of yarn around and said encouraging things to one another from the week.

Erica interpreting at church

The encouragement web with the team from LA

Here's how you can be praying:

• That I will make the most of my last two weeks with the girls at the Oasis.
• That I will get plenty of rest and have enough energy to love and serve people well in the time that's left.
• Continue praying for the girls' physical and spiritual health, as well as spiritual freedom.
• Pray for justice for the girls' abusers, as we currently have 14 criminal cases in process which involve about 20 girls (almost half of our girls).

Click HERE to see pictures from this week!