Today meant our last day at the orphanage for this trip. Because of our flight schedule on Thursday, it is necessary for us to head to the city tomorrow.
After breakfast we reported to Fundacion Savacion, ready, actually, to work on a project. One needing attention was sealing the walls of the food bodega (storage). From Brooks we learned that rats could get in and eat the food stored there, like rice, beans, corn, flour, etc. This, of course, meant loss of important food staples. Yesterday John purchased expanding foam sealer, and today he located a really tall ladder and began smearing the sealant in the cracks. Antonio helped with placement and steadying of the ladder in the two sections of storage. It appears that no openings remain for the little varmints to gain access, so we hope that the orphanage will no longer lose foodstuffs.
Since Juanita suggested we hold another movie night to conclude our time at the orphanage, we set out a little early for lunch, to purchase popcorn, oil, juice, and cups for serving. Also, we needed to locate a movie, and we wanted to buy two soccer balls for the kids. The food portion of our shopping list created no problem, but finding a movie proved a bit more difficult. In the end we purchased the Narnia films at a stand in the market downtown. We also found two nice balls, and then we headed back to the orphanage.
Of course, by this time all of the kids had returned from school, rushing to greet us as we drove through the gate. At this point we unloaded our purchases, and a number of those little eyes spotted the pelotas! But we needed to talk to Carmen, Sandra's daughter, as we wanted to let them have one now but for her to hold the second for when needed later. Plus, we wanted to connect with her regarding a project for the baby room.
In the office we discovered that she had just left for a late lunch, but the staff member in charge of the pharmacy needed help sorting through a bag of meds, as he was unsure of what they were. So John began taking them out, one by one, and Antonio marked them so that it was clear as to their use. This consumed a fair amount of time, during which Merrie Beth played with kids.
Then it was out to grab dinner and dash back to the orphanage to set up for the movie. At show time we also wanted to play the video from last summer's trip. Before we could begin, though, the kids thanked us for coming, presented us with a gift, and read a psalm. Then the video began, and the kids really enjoyed seeing the pictures, even if they did not understand the words of the song. Already the popcorn elves began distributing the crunchy snack, and the show began. All of the boys and girls enjoyed The Voyage of the Dawntreader, although we needed to stop about halfway through, because they needed to head for bed. The littlest ones already had been taken to their dorms by the leaders. While this produced some groans, the announcement that they could finish watching tomorrow night made them okay with the plan.
Then began the cleaning up of the popcorn and a little bit of juice that made it to the floor. And we needed to put the chairs away. No matter how many times we go to Fundacion Salvacion, it is never easy to say goodbye. However, we could share with them how much we loved them and that we would be back in August.
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Monday, February 06, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Today brought surprises in that, when we arrived at the orphanage, there were very few children. All of the pre-schoolers were off the premises, and even the older ones in the baby room went to day care. So John found three soccer buddies and worked up a sweat. Merrie Beth stayed in the baby room rocking a five-month old. Antonio took the car in for some repairs. Later, we met with Brooks Baumgartner to tour the orphanage, checking out needed projects and probable cost.
Our consultation proved most valuable. Also, the board meets tonight, and some options and/or clarification should come from this. East Martin's team first met Brooks last August, and since that time his role at Fundacion Salvacion has really grown. For a number of reasons this morning's discussion was exciting. Very importantly, it represents a coming together of a number of "stakeholders" for the orphanage, a beginning of multiple groups working together to create more efficiency and long-term benefits. One project developed by Brooks is the creation of a bilingual school for students at the orphanage that will after one year include students from the community. The tuition paid by outside students should not only cover the cost of the school but also produce "profit" that will fund education for the kids at the orphanage. The prospectus is well thought through and extremely solid.
As a result of our conversations this morning, we can at our next Guatemala Mission Team meeting present some good options to our group. Also, tomorrow morning John plans on taking on one of the projects with some immediate need. Once we see how this goes, we can report in tomorrow night's blog.
After lunch we returned to Fundacion Salvacion to the kids! Smiles and hugs all around. Playing on the playground--slides and swings, running and chasing. For John this meant more soccer, and today Merrie Beth declined the invitation to return to her post as goalie. With a small group we read a Bible story and completed a craft, followed by snacks and a Christian video (animated) that presented miracles from the Bible. The kids really enjoyed this, and our little band grew in size, with our added participants enjoying the animal crackers.
Clean-up went pretty quickly, and John took more photos to help the 2012 team consider projects. Some of the older kids now will greet us in English, so that they can practice. Sometimes it comes as a surprise when someone sits down next to you and says, "Good afternoon. How are you today?" Today we also hoped to take the twelve portrait photos we need for one school's art classes to paint. Last year when we brought the paintings and drawings with us, this was well received. And this year two schools again are using the kids' photos to create pieces of art.
Tomorrow we will need to wrap up our time at Fundacion Salvacion. We have another animated video we can show--or leave for later. We still need more portrait photos. Mainly we will enjoy loving on the kids. Also, we hope to show them the video from last year's trip. This is an amazing place--because the Lord is here and His Spirit permeates everything. Again, thank you for your prayers.
Our consultation proved most valuable. Also, the board meets tonight, and some options and/or clarification should come from this. East Martin's team first met Brooks last August, and since that time his role at Fundacion Salvacion has really grown. For a number of reasons this morning's discussion was exciting. Very importantly, it represents a coming together of a number of "stakeholders" for the orphanage, a beginning of multiple groups working together to create more efficiency and long-term benefits. One project developed by Brooks is the creation of a bilingual school for students at the orphanage that will after one year include students from the community. The tuition paid by outside students should not only cover the cost of the school but also produce "profit" that will fund education for the kids at the orphanage. The prospectus is well thought through and extremely solid.
As a result of our conversations this morning, we can at our next Guatemala Mission Team meeting present some good options to our group. Also, tomorrow morning John plans on taking on one of the projects with some immediate need. Once we see how this goes, we can report in tomorrow night's blog.
After lunch we returned to Fundacion Salvacion to the kids! Smiles and hugs all around. Playing on the playground--slides and swings, running and chasing. For John this meant more soccer, and today Merrie Beth declined the invitation to return to her post as goalie. With a small group we read a Bible story and completed a craft, followed by snacks and a Christian video (animated) that presented miracles from the Bible. The kids really enjoyed this, and our little band grew in size, with our added participants enjoying the animal crackers.
Clean-up went pretty quickly, and John took more photos to help the 2012 team consider projects. Some of the older kids now will greet us in English, so that they can practice. Sometimes it comes as a surprise when someone sits down next to you and says, "Good afternoon. How are you today?" Today we also hoped to take the twelve portrait photos we need for one school's art classes to paint. Last year when we brought the paintings and drawings with us, this was well received. And this year two schools again are using the kids' photos to create pieces of art.
Tomorrow we will need to wrap up our time at Fundacion Salvacion. We have another animated video we can show--or leave for later. We still need more portrait photos. Mainly we will enjoy loving on the kids. Also, we hope to show them the video from last year's trip. This is an amazing place--because the Lord is here and His Spirit permeates everything. Again, thank you for your prayers.
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Today God again gave us beautiful gifts! After breakfast we headed up into the mountains to view the city of Huehue from up above, with plans to listen to a sermon enroute and then have our worship time up there. Well, the car's CD player would not play the sermon, so that was disappointing. Once we reached the top, clouds rolled in, affecting our view; nevertheless, we were awed by His creation. At the top, Mirador, we encountered quite a few children from the village who, we supposed went there to receive something from tourists.
We snapped pictures and then sat down on a bench for our time of scripture and a devotional. Antonio conversed with some of the children. Then he said, "Sometime we need to come up here and do VBS with these kids," and in the trunk of the car we carried our VBS supplies from the orphanage. So we decided to take out our children's Bible story books, and Antonio read about creation and Adam and Eve, as the kids sat attentively. When he finished that story, then he read about how Jesus saves the world, and we remembered that in our "stuff" was the extra craft from the story of Jonah yesterday. A count of the boys and girls of varying ages came to 17, and we had 35 packets of that craft. So Antonio asked the kids to form a circle, and we passed out our simple craft. Each child could place a butterfly sticker (symbol of the resurrection) on a colored flower, along with a sticker that said Jesus me ama, Jesus loves me.
Well, as we guided the kids through the craft, more came. In the end, mothers came up to the lookout from the village, and we had forty children participate! Yes, we ran out of crafts. At the end, we gave out the Jesus loves me stickers, because that was all we had. As a result of this experience, we saw Antonio's mantra come to fruition: My mission is where my feet touch when I get out of bed in the morning. We all agreed that when the team comes, we must go up to Mirador fully equipped to hold a VBS. Interestingly, our scripture passage for our worship talked about how Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God will bring the harvest. Today, we planted seeds. and the Lord provided quite a worship experience, one quite unlike we expected!
We drove back down the mountain, ate lunch, and then headed for Fundacion Salvacion. The succeeding hours brought more blessings as we enjoyed the kids, read more books--the same ones as before. Next came the movie, which we showed before dinner, because after dinner the younger ones generally head for bed; and the older ones need to get up early for school. So "Ratatouille" played and we three served popcorn and citrus punch, with much help from the staff and the "leaders," the older children responsible for much of the smooth operation of the activities.
After the film, and everyone helping to put away the chairs and clean up, we enjoyed time with the kids. John and Antonio hosted a Bible question game with several of the girls. At long last we left Fundacion Salvacion, where tomorrow we will meet to review the orphanage's needs and the cost to meet them, so that upon our return to Michigan and the team's meeting we can evaluate what East Martin can do this year.
Eagerly we anticipate God's blessings again tomorrow!
We snapped pictures and then sat down on a bench for our time of scripture and a devotional. Antonio conversed with some of the children. Then he said, "Sometime we need to come up here and do VBS with these kids," and in the trunk of the car we carried our VBS supplies from the orphanage. So we decided to take out our children's Bible story books, and Antonio read about creation and Adam and Eve, as the kids sat attentively. When he finished that story, then he read about how Jesus saves the world, and we remembered that in our "stuff" was the extra craft from the story of Jonah yesterday. A count of the boys and girls of varying ages came to 17, and we had 35 packets of that craft. So Antonio asked the kids to form a circle, and we passed out our simple craft. Each child could place a butterfly sticker (symbol of the resurrection) on a colored flower, along with a sticker that said Jesus me ama, Jesus loves me.
Well, as we guided the kids through the craft, more came. In the end, mothers came up to the lookout from the village, and we had forty children participate! Yes, we ran out of crafts. At the end, we gave out the Jesus loves me stickers, because that was all we had. As a result of this experience, we saw Antonio's mantra come to fruition: My mission is where my feet touch when I get out of bed in the morning. We all agreed that when the team comes, we must go up to Mirador fully equipped to hold a VBS. Interestingly, our scripture passage for our worship talked about how Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God will bring the harvest. Today, we planted seeds. and the Lord provided quite a worship experience, one quite unlike we expected!
We drove back down the mountain, ate lunch, and then headed for Fundacion Salvacion. The succeeding hours brought more blessings as we enjoyed the kids, read more books--the same ones as before. Next came the movie, which we showed before dinner, because after dinner the younger ones generally head for bed; and the older ones need to get up early for school. So "Ratatouille" played and we three served popcorn and citrus punch, with much help from the staff and the "leaders," the older children responsible for much of the smooth operation of the activities.
After the film, and everyone helping to put away the chairs and clean up, we enjoyed time with the kids. John and Antonio hosted a Bible question game with several of the girls. At long last we left Fundacion Salvacion, where tomorrow we will meet to review the orphanage's needs and the cost to meet them, so that upon our return to Michigan and the team's meeting we can evaluate what East Martin can do this year.
Eagerly we anticipate God's blessings again tomorrow!
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Guatemala in February 2012
Friday, February 3
We spent all of Thursday just getting here, so today we went to the orphanage for the first time. it was so good to see the kids! at first we just reacquainted ourselves,and then we brought out the books...children's books that we could read to them. Actually, John mostly showed kids videos and pictures from our trip last August, while Merrie Beth read in Spanish. Many of the children asked if they could take a book, and they sat on the ground reading. we also had a yearbook of our 2009 trip, and everyone truly enjoyed looking at the pictures.
In the afternoon the boys played soccer. Merrie Beth pulled up a chair to watch, when John said she should play, too. Now, she knows virtually nothing about playing, and John put her in as goalie. thus began her brief and "illustrious" career in futbol. The fun began in beautiful sunshine. Then our goalie blocked a vicious shot...with her face! yes, her hands were up, but somehow the pelota (ball)made its way directly between her eyes and into her nose, knocking off her sunglasses! Needless to say, she retired to the sidelines, surrounded by concerned players and the kicker of that blocked goal saying, in English, "I am so sorry!". She assured them that she was OK, but that headache was a good one!
After dinner we met with Antonio to discuss the needs of the orphanage. This was a good and productive time, as we can see that now many people and groups can come together to move the orphanage forward.
Also, in the afternoon, Cesar, Sandra's husband, stopped by and made a point of talking with us. This was difficult, as we expressed our condolences and he had tears in his eyes. He is still recovering from his injuries, broken ribs, broken sternum, and a gash across his forehead.
It felt really good to go to bed, and we awoke refreshed on Saturday morning.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
After breakfast we drove to Fundacion Salvacion, and while the first request was for the pelota, the kids were also super interested in the books. The reading soon began in earnest, with the kids very forgiving of Merrie Beth's mediocre Spanish. Lots of hugs and lap sitting. Yesterday afternoon all of the older kids, the leaders, left for an overnight trip to a water park, so today the staff appreciated our being there to help with the younger ones. A beautiful sunny day made activities really enjoyable.
As part of our activities, we held a mini-VBS. Antonio divided up the kids into groups, and Merrie Beth read the Bible story, Jonah and the Big Fish, in Spanish, while John and Antonio gathered the kids for the craft. Each child received a colored boat cut from cardstock and stickers to place on it. We also handed out little packets of candy fish. With three of us to do this, we kept it simple, but everyone enjoyed the story and the craft.
Then it was back to books and playing on the playground. Ah, of course, the camera kept busy as John "shot" quite a few of the boys and girls. We actually left a bit early today, because a church group came with activities, adults and kids from Huehue. Tonight John printed pictures which we will give out tomorrow.
Probably the one thing that just "sticks out" about being here is the love the kids show. As Merrie Beth read today, little Israel sat on her lap and fell asleep. Others then came with books in hand and asked her to read. Even John got into the reading act today. Everywhere groups of children reading and looking at books dotted the landscape. No one minds that we cannot speak Spanish. Just a word or a phrase suffices to communicate, and Claudia, book in hand, took Merrie Beth's hand and led her to a place to read. Later she patted a spot on the bench for Merrie Beth to sit and didn't like it when Merrie Beth left because the church group began its presentation.
So tomorrow John, Antonio, and Merrie Beth will have their own worship, with activities at the orphanage to follow. We appreciate your prayers.
We spent all of Thursday just getting here, so today we went to the orphanage for the first time. it was so good to see the kids! at first we just reacquainted ourselves,and then we brought out the books...children's books that we could read to them. Actually, John mostly showed kids videos and pictures from our trip last August, while Merrie Beth read in Spanish. Many of the children asked if they could take a book, and they sat on the ground reading. we also had a yearbook of our 2009 trip, and everyone truly enjoyed looking at the pictures.
In the afternoon the boys played soccer. Merrie Beth pulled up a chair to watch, when John said she should play, too. Now, she knows virtually nothing about playing, and John put her in as goalie. thus began her brief and "illustrious" career in futbol. The fun began in beautiful sunshine. Then our goalie blocked a vicious shot...with her face! yes, her hands were up, but somehow the pelota (ball)made its way directly between her eyes and into her nose, knocking off her sunglasses! Needless to say, she retired to the sidelines, surrounded by concerned players and the kicker of that blocked goal saying, in English, "I am so sorry!". She assured them that she was OK, but that headache was a good one!
After dinner we met with Antonio to discuss the needs of the orphanage. This was a good and productive time, as we can see that now many people and groups can come together to move the orphanage forward.
Also, in the afternoon, Cesar, Sandra's husband, stopped by and made a point of talking with us. This was difficult, as we expressed our condolences and he had tears in his eyes. He is still recovering from his injuries, broken ribs, broken sternum, and a gash across his forehead.
It felt really good to go to bed, and we awoke refreshed on Saturday morning.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
After breakfast we drove to Fundacion Salvacion, and while the first request was for the pelota, the kids were also super interested in the books. The reading soon began in earnest, with the kids very forgiving of Merrie Beth's mediocre Spanish. Lots of hugs and lap sitting. Yesterday afternoon all of the older kids, the leaders, left for an overnight trip to a water park, so today the staff appreciated our being there to help with the younger ones. A beautiful sunny day made activities really enjoyable.
As part of our activities, we held a mini-VBS. Antonio divided up the kids into groups, and Merrie Beth read the Bible story, Jonah and the Big Fish, in Spanish, while John and Antonio gathered the kids for the craft. Each child received a colored boat cut from cardstock and stickers to place on it. We also handed out little packets of candy fish. With three of us to do this, we kept it simple, but everyone enjoyed the story and the craft.
Then it was back to books and playing on the playground. Ah, of course, the camera kept busy as John "shot" quite a few of the boys and girls. We actually left a bit early today, because a church group came with activities, adults and kids from Huehue. Tonight John printed pictures which we will give out tomorrow.
Probably the one thing that just "sticks out" about being here is the love the kids show. As Merrie Beth read today, little Israel sat on her lap and fell asleep. Others then came with books in hand and asked her to read. Even John got into the reading act today. Everywhere groups of children reading and looking at books dotted the landscape. No one minds that we cannot speak Spanish. Just a word or a phrase suffices to communicate, and Claudia, book in hand, took Merrie Beth's hand and led her to a place to read. Later she patted a spot on the bench for Merrie Beth to sit and didn't like it when Merrie Beth left because the church group began its presentation.
So tomorrow John, Antonio, and Merrie Beth will have their own worship, with activities at the orphanage to follow. We appreciate your prayers.
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