Good morning everyone. Its Saturday and we woke up to frost....yes, it gets that cold here! In a few hours the sun will warm us up and we'll be down to T-shirts.
A typical day on our HANDS Mission Team.....what is it like for us, day to day?
Breakfast is at 7:30, although that is flexible. We usually have cereal, mild, wonderful sweet bananas (they are very tiny and sooo good), melon, coffee, tea, bread with jam. Everyone takes a turn doing devotions for the meal times, picking scripture that is meaningful and relevent to them. Sometimes we discuss this scripture as it applies to our time here. This morning Matt read about the Good Samaritan and talked about how to show mercy to all. Breakfast ends about 8:15 and we head over to our place to gather things needed for the day...cameras, water, supplies. About 8:30 we start our work.
Hans is our 'fearless foreman'... as he's been nicknamed. He's been checking out what needs to be done each day with Hank, our interpreter. He makes sure things keep moving along during the day. Everyone keeps busy doing the work, whether that's loading and bringing blocks, mixing mortar, laying block, making doors, staining, varnishing, fixing vehicles and tractors, moving paving stone, cleaning up the school bathrooms or our home for the week. The pace of work is not the same as at home and there's a very relaxing quality about the day. For breaks we grab our cameras and take pictures of the kids and the work being done, enjoy the sunshine and enjoy the beauty of the area. Yesterday many of us saw a volcano 'puff' and a plume of smoke rose from the top of the volcano...neat stuff!
We take two coffee breaks - the usual 10 and 3 - or there abouts. Everyday has a flavour of its own and it depends on what we are doing. We have received delicious Guatemalan coffee from Joe, an independent, freelance mission guy (don't know what else to call him!) who runs all over the place doing technical repairs for surgeons, dentists, doctors, schools, medical clinics and more. We met him two years ago. Joe plays a mean guitar and will be here until Monday morning, with his son Micah, to work on the wireless internet and installing programs for the new computer lab.
At lunch we are usually treated to a hot lunch and time to relax - sit or lay in the sun, take a siesta for half hour or read. We do need this break as we are doing things we aren't really used to! And whether we really notice it or not, the altitude and very dry air take their toll. After lunch we head back to our work until about 5 pm. Then its time for showers to take off the dust and dirt. We do have two bathrooms in our house with flush toilets, showers and running hot water....sometimes :) lol Between pressure issues, running out of propane and inconsistant water, we do get caught in our shower with cold water!
Supper is at 6:30pm - a wonderful time to connect about our day, give glory and honour to God, establish relationships with each other and our host family - breaking bread together is truly a blessing! Once again, the meals have been more than we could have hoped for and we thank Timo and Mary-Lou with blessing us day after day. After supper we gather in our 'living room' to debrief, have a time of singing, scripture reading, discussion about scripture and about our day. We usually spend about an hour together in fellowship. Last night we were blessed with Joe's gift of music as he played guitar while we sang. He can pick out pretty much any tune and we will have him here for a few more nights. (We do miss you Paul!!) After devotions we usually catch up on our email, read, journal, play cards and other games. We are pretty tired by now and slowly we all retire for the night - usually about 10:30.
This morning the crew is beginning to paint the hallways of the school - white ceilings and yellow hallways...its pretty cold in there this morning and I doubt it'll warm up much as the building is concrete block with plaster. Michale is back on the team even though his chest is hurting pretty bad. Karl now has the same virus and is back in bed, feeling horrible....others are complainging of sore throats and coughing. Please keep us in your prayers as it seems this virus is going around. There is some frustration at not being able to participate in the work and fellowship with the team but we take things a day at a time and realize that God is here, even in this.
Blessing to you all. Tomorrow we are off to the city market and worship at 4:30 in the afternoon.
Dear Guatemaula Team
ReplyDeleteWe hope that you are having fun and that the school is coming along. We hope no one else gets sick. We hope that Micheal will get better. We hope that lots of kids will come to the school to learn about God. We are praying for you! What is it like there?
The 8 and 9 year old Sunday School Class
Hi Team!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've been eating well!! I really hope nobody else gets sick and the Mike and Karl will feel better soon. It nice to hear so many children are using the new school. I bet it's a site to witness.....God Bless and we'll keep praying for all of you!!