HueHue 2011 - Day 2

August 15, 2011

Greetings from Huehuetenango!

We've been blessed with a beautiful day in HueHue! God's goodness and faithfulness shines through even the cloudiest days here in Guatemala. We pray that as you read this you are filled with the love of Christ.

Our morning began with breakfast here at the Hotel Premier. We ate an assortment of fresh fruit, french toast sticks, eggs, and plantains. While drinking glasses of cantaloupe juice and coffee we chatted about how the Lord had blessed us with restful, rejuvinating sleep! After breakfast we met for group devotions, and headed out to Fundacion Salvacion.

When we arrived at the orphanage we were met by fewer children due to school being in session, but the hugs were great, and the "buenos dias"es were plenty. We immediately made a lists of supplies that we needed and sent a few members of our team with Antonio to purchase the supplies. Chase worked on grinding/sanding the cement floor in the second kitchen, the one that we will be tiling this week. While he worked hard in the kitchen, the rest of us organized and hung the portraits of the children at the orphanage that had been painted by high school students in the West Michigan area. For those readers who might not know, last year the mission team took a picture of each child here at Fundacion Salvacion. The pictures were then given to several schools' art classes to paint or draw. The results were beautiful; full of color and details of each child's face. It is amazing to see how the art students in Michigan captured the personality of the HueHue children in their work. We prepped and hung many of the art pieces, and wow, the children were SO excited to see their pictures hanging on the wall! There were shouts of exitement and loud rounds of laughter and clapping each time a new group of children entered the room. It was music to all of our ears! What an amazing gift these children were given - a reminder of how special, and how loved they truly are!

After our morning work session was over, we left for lunch. For this meal we chose McDonalds. We ate our food and then headed back to the orphanage after a quick stop at the hotel for our VBS supplies.

Day 1 of VBS

Today we started by singing our songs with the children. It is great to see them get so excited to sing and dance for the Lord. Holly, Ally, Antonio, and Manuel performed a skit to introduce our VBS theme: Panda Mania! Today's theme was "God Made You" and focused on how each of us is a wonderfully complex creation made in the image of God. We were able to spend more time with the children in craft time, snack time, and game time. After VBS some of us played futbol while others visited and spent time with the children.

After dinner at the hotel, we returned to Fundacion Salvacion for a movie. We were once again greeted with smiles and hugs. Popcorn and punch was served and we watched the movie together. Goodbyes were said once again for the day. As I look ahead in my mind to our final goodbyes of our trip (at the end of the week), I anticipate them being a difficult experience for me. For now though, I am thankful for four more tomorrows with the children, and the opportunity to be cheerfully greeted by them, and the chance to say hello once again.

Sleep Peacefully,
Lane and Anna