Day 8: Adventures in Antigua

To let you know a little about yesterday, (Friday Jan 30) let's just say we could've driven to Calgary from home in the same amount of time as it took us to drive 160km.... This was due to a demonstration, rock slides, winding roads, the need for food, and Guatemala in general; but there were lots of laughs and team bonding that happened, not to mention some firsts for Impact as an organization with a group. 

This morning we were VERY exited to have an 8 o'clock breakfast. Our hotel here was very different compared to the guest house in Tactic in many ways, one of which being that there were only three people to a room. 

After a very filling breakfast we walked back to the central square to meet up with our tour guide for the morning. He took us to all of the historical highlights of the city that were within walking distance from the square. I loved the ruins of the Santiago Cathedral, the architecture there was so intricate and I wish that things were still built that magnificently not only in countries like Guatemala, but back home as well. We had to laugh while we were at the Convent, as the Weakest Link also had the weakest sense of balance while actively posing for pictures. After the tour we went back to our hotel to say goodbye to the Friesen Family. 

Following this we walked to a different hotel for lunch which was one of our best meals so far. The restraunt area that we were in was complete with a quite elaborate buffet and chair covers. This was enough to get a, "This is as fancy as Aaltos!" from Brett. 

Directly after lunch we walked over to the market to do some shopping. Going into the market some of us had an idea of what we wanted to buy, while some of us had no idea, but we all came out with more than we thought we would be able to get. It was a fun experience bartering and haggling with the vendors. Taylor was especially good at this, but upon comparison we all seemed to pay about the same price for similar items. As you walk down the aisles of the market the vendors will point out different things they have for sale saying, "For your mother, father, grandmother, etc.". And as Brett and Sean were walking through, one of the vendors suggested they buy an item for their boyfriends which because of past events made all of us laugh just a little. 

Once our time in the market was up we walked back to our hotel to get our bags and drive back to Guatemala  City as we are staying at the SETECA compound because of our early morning flight. 

When we arrived back at SETECA we were pleasantly surprised with a Dominos  pizza party and as enjoyable as that was, the time we spent together afterwards was probably the most important part of the trip. After supper we spent time sharing with each other what God has been teaching us throughout this trip and what steps he is calling us to take once we return home. Oscar shared his testimony with us and we spent about 20 minutes praying for each other individually and the things that we had said we needed to do. All of this was the best possible way for our trip to end because it solidified what we have learned and will help us use those things when we get home. 

 

On an extremely less serious note, we figured all of you back home might want some explanation as to why Mrs. McCutcheon was given the nickname "The Weakest Link". Over the course of our time here there has been an occurrence of at least one major daily blunder (specifically for comic relief of course). The list of blunders consists of the following: tripping on a flat surface, almost taking out Mr. Stoesz; falling out of the bus repeatedly;  almost falling through/snapping a church pew in half (though she still maintains that the pew was faulty); almost falling down the sink hole; almost dying because of the inability to run to a bridge, try to videotape us singing O Canada, and then run back in under 2 minutes; let us not forget the uneven cobblestone graveyard she had to conquer in Antigua; and finally, while taking a group photo which involved jumping off a rock she managed to stick the landing for almost a second before gracefully kissing the ground with her bottom. Needless to say, bring and ice pack, a heat pack, a wheelchair, and her winter jacket...maybe even a bouquet of flowers and a get well card (hint, hint).

All in all it has been an amazing trip with quite a few very hard goodbyes, from other team members to the kids, in the last two days. It has been so cool seeing God working in all of our lives and I hope that we all continue to grow upon returning home.  

Sabrina

Day 7: in the vans....

A quick entry for today. We will probably have more detail about this morning later in the blog. We had a last devotional at Chemche and said goodbye to our new friends one last time. We spent from 10:30 to 8:30ish in the vans to get to Antigua. Normally it would have been only 5 hours, but there was a traffic jam due to protests, and section of road closed off due to a somewhat recent mudslide. Oh, and rush hour in Guatemala City on a Friday night. We are glad we are finally here. We will try to update more soon.

Kevin Stoesz

Day 6: Last day in Tactic

    This morning we were all so greatful to be able to sleep in until 6:30am rather than the usual 6:00am. Our day was packed full of activities and visitations, starting with the market. There was three groups of four or five. My group being The Nerd Herd 2.0, was comprised of Seanito, Sabreeny, Heidi and last and also least the weakest link (Mrs.McCutcheon)... But we love her. Once we were in our groups we were given a list of various things we needed to buy and find such as: holding a live chicken (but Sean "killed" ours), singing 'Oh Canada' on a bridge, get a shoe shine, a picture with the police and buying apples, papaya, melon, honey, tortillas etc. We had an hour and a half to finish our list. Us gringos (white people) were set free to find our way around the Tactic market.  The prize for first place was donuts and the consultation prize was raw chicken feet... The Nerd Herd 2.0's placement in this activity is not important.

    

    After the market we were sad to find out that we could not finish the construction project because of  the lack of time. On the bright side we were happy to find out that were got the chance to have a home visit. It was very important to us that we saw how many of the people in Guatemala live on a daily basis. It amazes me how loving and happy these people are with how little they have. Coming from Canada, where we have so much is a real eye opener. We all gathered in a woman's house with her two kids (which by the way were so cute). She welcomed all 13 of us with open arms, into a home that is around the size of an average Canadian bedroom, and she felt blessed to have us in her home. We all gathered around the woman and prayed for her and her children. We then gave the kids a few toys and drove them to school for afternoon classes.

    Following lunch we drove to Coban to visit the children's ward in the hospital. We did not know how many kids would be there so we each packed five or more toys for the kids. As we waited for the other group to arrive we took a short meander to a Tienda so the Weakest Link could get her coke fix... (First one of the week McCutcheon family). The medical care at the hospital is free but inefficient. If you aren't persistent you will not get the attention you need. Doctors do not actually take time to diagnose the patient and just prescribe medicine even though most can not afford it. We went into the ward and split up to pray for kids and give them a toy. Most of the children there had pneumonia from the damp climate and smoke exposure (as we saw earlier at home visit, they cook a few feet from the bed). The Coban hospital is the main hospital for that zone, with some families having to travel a week to get care and having to leave their child there to care for others at home until they were well. It was sad to see all these kids in a place like that and not being able to do much for them. Our simple gestures of prayer and smiles went a long way.

    After supper we headed out to a cell group, kind of like mix of a house church and morning devotional, for night school for young adults ages 18-25. About half the people at the cell group were not Christians so it was a great chance for us to show God's love through us to some people around our age. Our translator Eli taught us a song in Spanish which we sang, as well as the Doxology. We all had a snack and drink then hugged them goodbye and we were on our way for our last night here. 

 

   So far this trip has been an amazing experience and worth every penny. It's a bitter sweet feeling having to leave soon but I'll be happy to take what I have learned and see everyone again.

                - Megan

Day 5: Last day of children's ministry

Hola! This is Kristen :) I hope this finds all of you well. Today was a great day! The weather today was beautiful. The sun was shining and we could finally get out our sandals and t-shirts. We started off with another early morning and got up shortly after 6am. Taylor was quite excited because cookies and cake were offered at breakfast :) After breakfast we drove to Chicoy school for their morning devotional. Seeing the kids praise God is like nothing I've ever witnessed before. 

It is so powerful and inspiring. After the singing, the kids surrounded us and prayed for us; God's presence was so evident. After Chicoy, we drove to the sink hole. The hike up to it was beautiful, but us prairie folk were definitely huffing and puffing by the time we made it to the top ;) Oscar (our marvellous driver), gave us a little talk before we headed down.

 He encouraged us to open our hearts to God and to follow Him without holding anything back. Then we headed down into the sink hole. It was steep and slippery...but don't worry, we all made it there and back safely :) Once we got all the way down, we sang some worship songs and then Oscar asked us to get into groups of 3's and to be vulnerable with each other and pray about what was on our hearts. Some pretty cool things happened, but I'll save those stories for when we're home :)  After we finished praying, we headed back up and then down to our vans. Then we drove to a few of the schools to deliver some gifts to people's sponsor children. All of the kids here are so loving and caring. I'm definitely going to miss all of their hugs :) It amazes me that these kids have so little, yet they are willing to give so much. After we finished delivering gifts, we headed back to the guest house and had lunch. Then we headed to our last children's ministry. It was a bittersweet moment. It was so hard to say goodbye, but it was so much fun dancing and playing with them. One little boy that I kind of 'clicked' with gave me about 10 goodbye hugs, and on the last one, he hugged me for about a minute and didn't want to let go. It was so hard to say goodbye to all of them because we were just starting to really get to know them, but I think that I can say for all of us that we will never forget the impact that they had on us. 

We decided to make confetti to throw at them because that was how they had greeted us. We cut up oodles of paper and then as the kids were just about to leave, we showered them with all of the confetti. It was so much fun! After that we came back to the guest house and hungout. Then we went back to Chamche School to have supper with the teachers. We played lots of fun games and had a delicious supper with them. 

Afterwards they told us to squish together in the back of the van because we'd be giving 'a few' teachers rides home. Turns out we fit over 25 people in a 15 passenger van. It was definitely 'Guatemalan' style. God has been teaching me so much on this trip and I will forever be grateful for this experience. We appreciate all of your prayers! If you could continue to pray for us in our last few days here, that would be great! See you all in a few days!!!

p.s.- Hi mom and dad!! Love you and miss you :)

Day 4: Heidi's Highlights

This morning we were very pleased to be allowed a few minutes more of sleep, especially since we've all finally figured out how many blankets it takes to keep us "tough" Canadians warm here in Tactic. (In case you're wondering its 3 or 4 thick ones.) It also helped waking up to Bob Marley telling us to not worry and be happy. Unfortunately for us girls, there was no cow outside our window, although Mrs McCutcheon would've been much happier if the rest of us would've assumed so (see Day 3 blog near the end). After yet another amazing breakfast, we were bussed up to the Catholic Church here in Tactic to gain a better understanding of Catholicism in Guatemala. It was a sobering experience to see how the people here have been deceived by the syncritysm of the Myan religions and Catholicism. Thankfully Mrs. McCutcheon (known as the weakest link) brought a little comic relief by "pretending" to crush and/or fall between the slats of the pew beneath her. After the "incident" we, along with the Freisen family spent time praying for the people here that their eyes would be opened to this deception that seems so obvious to us. 

After this we went back to La Vida Neuva, the first school we visited on Sunday (see Day 1) to begin our work project of lengthening the play area for the kids. It was so much fun! I mean, it's not everyday that people who don't know you terribly well give you a pick axe and tell you to start chopping away at the ground while school is still in session... It was very hard work, and we were all put to shame by our group leader, Oscar, who hacked giant pieces of clay out of the ridge like it was nothing. (Though Brett tried very hard to keep up with him.) Our goal for this week is to clear out a section that has been marked off by a painted white line that is about 3 metres  wide and 8 metres long. It was very interesting to see all of the different soil types that were in that small of an area. Though the softer soil looked much easier to work with than the clay and rock that I was helping move, I'm happy to be able to report that those of us who were moving the softer soil made it all the way to the white line! 

After that, we came back to the guest house for lunch which we were all delighted to find out was papas fritas and pollo fritas (French fries and fried chicken). The fun moved with us into the dish shack while we washed dishes let's just say there were a lot of laughs. 

Then we went back to Chamchae for our second day of kids ministry, which went fantastically. It was so much fun going back and seeing the kids that we'd each connected with again. We decided to start off with the song that the kids and teachers had all seemed to know, which really helped get them all excited and participating, especially with the other dances. It was also really touching, having some of the kids remember my name and yell it out when Mr. Stoesz gave them a pop quiz on who we were. Aside from the dances and sports type games from the day before, Kristen shared her faith story, we made wordless bracelets (ie. red bead represents Jesus' blood shed for us), and Megan and Kristen did their chalk art of the Great Blondin for the kids. As always, we had a blast spending time with the kids and came away from our time with them accompanied by many memories. The memory that has been discussed the most through out the day is Sean's experience playing soccer with the kids. Not only are they very good soccer players for their age, but one of them even managed to bring him to the ground, paralyzed in a fetal position, only to have aimed the ball perfectly for a face shot off the wall seconds later. The kids then proceeded to continue on with their game and Sean got himself moved over a nearby wall to rest. 

Our evening appeared to be fairly uneventful, and as I began writing this novel, eventually everyone gathered around and listened to what was being written after Mr. Stoesz finished serenading us with "The Cat Came Back". We had so much fun laughing, some of us to the point of tears, about the different events of the day and retelling the different things that had happened, just to make sure that everyone had all the facts straight. Our supper was once again incredible, and to top it all off, because it's Heidy Friesen's birthday today we were blessed with not one, but TWO birthday cakes to enjoy. Lastly, here in Guatemala it's a tradition to set off fireworks on someone's birthday, so Hugo made sure that we had the full Guatemalan experience. There were a couple malfunctions with the fireworks - I held mine a little too long, parts of Megan and Sean's exploded at our feet, and Taylor and Brett's didn't go off the first time around, but we had a lot of fun and all of us agree that if there was some way, we would bring some home with us and start the tradition there! 

Now we're back inside the guesthouse, preparing something that I will leave as a surprise for you to read about tomorrow, just as it will be for the kids. Thank you for enduring my never-ending babble, hope you're having as much fun reading about our adventures as we are having them!

 Heidi

PS. Brittany, we wanted to let you know - we saw an anorexic cow...

Day 3: Children's Ministry

What better way to start off our first work day than waking up at a quarter to 6. We trudged along while getting ready, but as soon as we arrived at the school we were all very excited. Walking through the gate into the school, we were greeted by kids lined up along either side of the path to the chapel. As our group walked through, they threw handfuls of confetti over us, although a few of them aimed for our faces. Covered from head to toe in colourful pieces of paper, we began the morning devotion. To sum it up in one word, it was incredible. The kids were singing as loud as they could, clapping their hands, and jumping for joy during the worship songs. It was amazing to see how passionate and on fire for God they were. Apparently, if the wind isn't blowing, you can hear them singing from the other side of the valley, which we'll get to see tomorrow. After the morning devotion was done, we got hugs from a few dozen of the younger kids before they went to class. Each grade had been assigned a student from our group to welcome, so we each went to our class to play games and meet the kids. There was one funny mixup however; a poster on one of the doors read: Welcome Brother Tylor. The kids were quite shocked to find out that Taylor was a girl. Anyway, it was very fun being with the kids in the classroom, despite the fact that I was the only one who could speak English. We may not have been able to verbally communicate, but smiling and laughing is universal. We all had a great time and sharing the stories with the others in the Westpark group afterward was just as fun. We went back to Impact Ministries for lunch, and returned in the afternoon for our children's ministry. We danced, did a skit, and had a puppet show, followed by crafts, games, and an object lesson from Mr. Stoesz. We said our goodbyes, we got more hugs, and then went back to spend the evening at the guest house. Tonight we went to visit the directors' house to talk about our experience so far, our highlights of the trip, and what it means to us. Les has an amazing ability to completely change your thinking and challenge you on your beliefs. The work he and his wife are doing here is life changing and, well, impacting. I can't wait to see what the next few days has in store with us. As I'm typing this, Mr. Stoesz and I heard what we thought was Brett snoring, but it's actually a cow mooing outside our window. I think it's time for bed.

-Sean Robertson

P.S. We took lots of pictures and video today, but unfortunately they are not in the format we can use to transfer them to the iPad (our blogging device) at this time. We will try to get some tomorrow. When we get an opportunity, we will post pictures retrospectively. -Mr. Stoesz

Day 2: 4 weddings!

Hola Amigos! Greetings from Guatemala! It's Taylor here and I am going to update you on our first full day in Tactic! Our week started off sunny, but now it has been quite rainy in the afternoons. Today was such an exciting day! We got to be a part of an exciting church service, followed by four different weddings in the same service! The special thing about this church service is that it was the first Chruch service to happen in new church, with the funds entirely raised by the Guatemalan communities! 

It was an honour to be apart of such a big event, and it was it really cool to see how "on fire" these people are for God! The service was all in Spanish, Thankfully we had great translators to help us keep up with what was going on! After church we had enjoyed a wonderful meal prepared by many ladies of the communities. It was a Guatemalan soup with chicken, and gnocchis that were wrapped in banana leaves and made entirely out of corn! Following the meal we got to spend some time with the kids that had come for the service, and just take some time to enjoy the outside. Later on we set out to see 4 of the 6 schools that Impact Ministries runs. Our fabulous driver named Oscar, took us around to each school and told us the whole story behind each school! Unfortunately it was Sunday, and there were no kids in schools that we got to meet. Afterwards we came back to the guest house that we are staying at to meet up with the  family that is also staying in Tactic and doing some work along side us! We took a drive into Tactic, where we would meet at an Impact Ministries workers' house to make a Guatemalan dinner ourselfs! It was quite the experience! We started by taking corn that had been soaked in water and lye down to the mill, where it went through the grinder and formed dough. We took it back to the house and made a traditional Guatemalan snack for supper. We took the dough and rolled it out into tortillas. We added cheese to the centre and folded it over, deep frying it in a large pan over the fire. 

This was probably my highlight of the night, getting to experience making real Guatemalan food along with great company. To finish off the evening Alisia, the hostest lady, shared her testomy with us how God has done wonderful things in her life. It was really eye opener and and "cool to see that while they were faithful to God,  he was faithful to them."  So that completes of first day and Tactic! We have an early morning tomorrow, so stay tuned for what exciting will happen next!

-Taylor 

P.S. We do check for comments on the blog. If you want to pass on a greeting to one of the student that you don't mind others seeing, please add a comment. The students (and staff) would love to hear from you! 

-Mr. Stoesz

Day 1

We woke up today around 7, guys slept good while the girls not so much. After waking, we toured around the compound. First, we took a look at the basketball courts and then tried out the play structure. We had a typical Guatemalian breakfast which consisted of porridge, sausage, scrambled eggs and tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, bean mash, buns, and an iced tea. Next, we loaded up in the vans and started our trip to Tactic. Our first stop was city square in the middle of Guatemala City. Here, we had a history lesson about Guatemala and toured the outside of the government building and then the inside of the Catholic cathedral. A few things we learnt from Les (leader of impact ministries) was that Guatemala City is the fourth capital. The first was invaded by the Spanish, the second was destroyed by flooding, the third was destroyed by an earthquake, and are currently using Guatemala City . Guatemala is a country that is deeply scarred from years of civil war, dictatorship, massacre, and conquest. When the Spanish invaded the country, they forced the catholic religion on the people, so much that now everyone would consider themselves "Christian". After our tour of the cathedral, we tried some manderian oranges, which were deliscious, and then loaded up and continued our journey. Our next stop was to fill up gas, use the washroom and get some snacks, which mostly consisted of cookies, drinks, and chips. Then we loaded up again. We drove for about 1.5 hours before stopping for lunch at a roadside restraunt. There, we enjoyed chicken and fries with a dessert of ice cream. Our next stop was when we arrived in Tactic. Throughout the trip we experienced a crazy but somehow organized method of driving which was sometimes scary but very entertaining. The impact missions compound is very nice, although the weather is not great with drizzling rain and a cool temperature. For tonight, we have a hike planned, then supper, then an introduction and orientation.

Brett

We have arrived!

After getting up at 4am or earlier, going on 3 planes, 4 airports, and many rides on moving sidewalks, we have arrived in Guatemala and started to get settled in our rooms at the seminary called SETECA (Seminario Teologicio CentrroAmericano) which is the largest in Central America.

Happy to be here, and very ready to go to sleep, there was no complaining to go to bed.

This is our view when we woke up. It might be a while until we have internet access, so this post might come the same times our Day 1 post.

Team arrived safely in Guatemala

Team arrived safely in Guatemala City. They are spending their first night in the city and will head out to Tactic in the morning. It's been a long day but a great beginning to their adventure.

Leaving Day!

This morning the 9 of us arrived at the Winnipeg Airport bleary eyed but excited about of trip. It will be a full day of travel with layovers in Denver and Houston. It will be a definite changed of pace as we have come out of a busy exam session (some of them have four exams in a row). Security and immigration went smoothly and we are currently waiting for our first flight. It's one of those "hurry up and wait" days... :). 

Leaving tomorrow!

It seams like last week when we first met as a group to start planning for our Impact trip to Guatemala. Tomorrow we leave! We spent this morning going over our music and skits. We prayed that we can show God's love to the people we meet, and how they can show us God's love to us. We ask for your prayers as well. We ask for travel mercies, good weather, positive experiences, and opportunities in which we can be stretched to grow in our faith. 

Guatemala 2015 team:
Mrs. McCutcheon, Kristen, Taylor,
Heidi, Sabrina, Megan,
Brett, Mr. Stoesz, Sean

We will try to update our blog regularly, depending on Internet availability. Feel free to post comments so we have a bit of contact from our friends and family back home!

Ok, chicos! Vamanos!