NEBC - Guatemala Trip - Day 2

Sunday morning at Seteca, a seminary here in Guatemala, and the team is up bright and early ready for a 2 hour ride to Matochos.  Phil and Sam arrive and tell us that although McDonalds was supposed to open at 6, that really means 6:30-6:45, so they could not bring breakfast.  Flex, flex, flex… that’s what we tell teams, so we loaded up our luggage in the vehicle and headed toward Matochos.  We stopped at McDonalds around 7:15, ate breakfast, and loaded back up for the rest of the trip.

When we arrived in Matochos, we went to the school and visited with Miraflor.  We introduced ourselves and then stood around and talked for a little bit.  Phil alerted us to the fact that the preacher of the church was called away, so we would be doing the morning service.  Pastor Matt spoke, Rudee, Lian and Leslie gave testimonies/challenges to the people as well.  Allie and Jenny went with the children and did a Sunday school lesson with them.  They all did a great job.

After church, we went to Villa Laura to return some chairs, and visit the local church.  We met with some of the people there and prayed with them.  We met Obed, the director at Villa Laura, and he showed us around this facility that was 15 minutes from Matochos.  Villa Laura has 150 students.  It is just a small school, but important in reaching some of the families in this area with the gospel.

Eventually we headed back to Matochos for lunch (a chicken soup meal).  After lunch, Rudee and Lian had the opportunity to meet with their sponsored child – Thailia ( which is interesting since Rudee is from Thailand!).  What an interesting “coincidence”.  I really enjoyed watching them talk and meet for the first time.  Rudee and Lian gave her gifts and hugged her and her mother.  Then they all prayed together with Phil and Sam.  It was awesome.

From there we headed back to the city to make our way to Camp Canaan.  We arrived shortly after 5, and unloaded and got ready for dinner.  The kids arrive tomorrow, so we just sat around, talked, shared, and enjoyed our time with Jose Luis and Orpha.

We wrapped the day up with some instruction for the week, a challenge to live as Christ would with the children/workers and with other team members, and then some highlights of the day.  Some shared about relationships they began/continued, some shared about things that God had showed them today.  Rudee mentioned the lesson she learned as she thought about how conscious she is being about the water she is drinking, the food she is eating, the necessary behaviors in the restroom (not allowed to flush toilet paper), and how that correlates to the spiritual alertness she should be experiencing every day as well.  We were challenged to be as spiritually alert with our walk with God as we are being with our physical alertness.

It was a great day.  The kids arrive tomorrow around 10-11, so we will be preparing the camp for their arrival in the morning.  It is after 12:30 back home, so I guess I ought to be getting to bed soon.