Day 8

Our last full day in Guatemala! We started the day with breakfast at Pollo Camperos, the Guatemalan version of Kentucky Fried Chicken. At first some team members were hesitant about the notion of chicken & fries for breakfast, but there was a quick realization that chickens lay eggs and obviously make pancakes as well!

Following breakfast, the team went on a walking tour of Antigua. At one time, Antigua was the spiritual & political center of Central America. As a result, in the 11 x 11 block city, there were over 30 cathedrals. Most of these have been destroyed & rebuilt multiple times due to the earthquake activity in this area. The team visited one such cathedral that had only a third of it’s structure rebuilt, but the final two thirds have been left in ruins as a testament to the incredible power that is unleashed when the earth shakes. We had the opportunity to explore sections of the ruins & go down into the crypts that are situated below the cathedral.

As well, the team had the opportunity to tour through a ruined cloistered nunnery. Now, a brief historical lesson is in order here: in colonial Central America, the government & the church were closely linked to one another. As a necessary part of maintaining one’s good standing with the king, a families oldest son was given over to either king’s army or the priesthood. For the oldest daughter, there was no such choice; she was given over to the church as a nun, and often to a cloistered nunnery. Being cloistered meant having no contact with the world outside of the nunnery…no family…nobody!

In the nunnery, a highlight of the tour was a donught-shaped room with perfect acoustics! In this room, the team spent a great deal of time worshiping, sharing scripture & praying for one another. Another great opportunity to spend time with our heavenly Father!

As the team toured about, we had the opportunity to see the peaks of three separate volcanoes. If one remembers their junior high science class, volcanoes & earthquake activity are tied closely together due to the movement of massive tectonic plates over the face of the earth (just a quick lesson from an old science teacher for anyone interested!).

After a quick lunch of pizza, the team spent a couple of hours in an artisan market, honing their skills at bartering for t-shirts, jewelry, blankets & other mementos of the trip. We found out that we have lots of “friends” in Guatemala…and the deals for us are “almost free”!

Back at our hotel we were blessed with a buffet meal of steak and salad topped off with a birthday cake for Ever, one of the Impact Ministries staff who was to celebrate his 20^th birthday in a few days.

Following dinner, the team gathered for a large debrief session. Les Peters took us through a time of sharing when each team member responded to two questions:

1. When did we see/experience God’s presence during our time in Guatemala.

2. What one thing do we feel God challenging us to change in our lives upon returning to Calgary.

For the next hour, our team of 38 teens & 10 adults listened to one another share some very deep and personal thoughts. Following this, team members prayed with one another in acknowledgement & encouragement of the call that each felt God had placed on their lives. The openness to share & the very real emotions brought our time in Guatemala to a fulfilling close.

Our next day would be filled with mixed emotions as we prepared to leave what we all now consider our

2^nd home and return to friends & family in Calgary. However, as Les Peters told the group, the mission trip is not over when we return to Calgary, it just moves into it’s second phase where we now begin to live out the lessons learned during our time away.

Thank-you to all our readers for your prayers & thoughts during our time in Guatemala. I hope that your time spent reading this blog was well worthwhile & has given you a little taste of what the team experienced while on mission.

If you are in the Calgary area on Thursday, April 28^th, please join us at Bearspaw Christian School for a time of sharing more of our stories, pictures, songs & dramas. Dessert and Guatemalan coffee will be served beginning at 7:00 PM. There is no charge for this event, so please free to join us!

Hasta luego!

Darryn Werth

Mission to Guatemala Team Lead

Day 7

What a day! Most of the team had the opportunity to sleep in for a bit this morning. We had to be ready to leave the guest house by 7:15 as we were off to the schools in Chamche & Chijacorral for a special devotion with the children there. When we arrived, the team participated in worship with the children. Lots of jumping, clapping & praising god together. Then, the fun began! Pairs of team members were scattered into classrooms throughout the school for fun & games: relay games with balloons, craft activities, one classroom even had a piñata, and at Chijacorral, team members shared tamales, nachos, cookies and fruit covered in chocolate. Before the team members left, the class of children prayed over them & said good bye. We left Tactic feeling very appreciated & very blessed!

After packing up & loading the vans, we headed out for a four and a half hour journey to Antigua, Guatemala. Antigua is an 11 x 11 block section of cobblestone roads and Spanish villas that were built in the 1700's. Most of the villas have now been turned into restaurants & hotels, one which we stayed in called Los Bucaros.

Los Bucaros has a variety of different sized rooms that face into open-air courtyards that are decorated with fountains and plants. We feel like we have gone back in time to when Antigua was the political & religious center of Central America and was populated with the rich and famous conquerors from Spain!

After moving into our rooms, the team went on a short walking tour of Antigua, and learned a bit of the history of the architecture & culture of the area. Many of the team members were relieved about being born into this century after they learned that first-born daughters were "turned over" to the church to become nuns & first-born sons either became priests in the Catholic church or soldiers in the King's army.

After a very tasty dinner of hamburgers, fries & ice cream, we returned to the hotel for a group debrief. Over the course of the past week, our debriefs have been an opportunity to share the sights & sounds and highs & lows of our day in ministry activities. This evening's devotion focused on the transition back to North America that is about to take place. We discussed the issue of "reverse culture shock" & the various challenges that could be encountered upon returning back home to Calgary.

In essence, "reverse culture shock" is the shock that results from leaving a materially poor but spiritually rich culture in a developing nation, and returning to our homes in a place that is materially rich but spiritually impoverished. The main purpose of taking time in Antigua prior to returning home is to "step" ourselves back into a culture that we thought was normal, but now realize is lived only by 1/5 of the world's population.

The evening ended with Les giving homework to the team members! Each member is required to prepare to share in tomorrow evening's devotion, what they feel God is calling them to change about themselves upon returning home. We shall see!

Blessings!
Darryn Werth

Day 4, 5, 6

We have fallen behind with our blogging! We are having such a good time, that we forget to pause & share our adventures with you.

We will attempt to get caught up shortly. Thank-you for your patience!

11B

Our team, as it is naturally the better of the two, were chosen to go to the sinkhole first.

After making a short stop at the school in Chicoy to worship with the students there. Soon we found ourselves climbing the hill into the depths of the jungle to the mouth of the sinkhole. We stumbled down the side into the sooty musty cave. It was dark and stinky down there. Karren explained to us Mayan witchcraft portion of the Guatemalan culture that regularly practice rituals in the cave. Despite the evil aura of the cave we sang songs and prayed for the people who practiced the witchcraft.

Later we went to our first round of children’s ministry in Santa Cruz. We did crafts, games, and worship time. This was new for us as it is a public school where many of the children do not know God. After this we worked for 4 hours on a retaining wall of a bridge. This was by far our most tiring day so far. Soon after our debriefing and devotions we went to sleep.

Today was a long day. More than 1/3 of our class was feeling sick today. We are not sure what caused this, but it may be the natural adjustment to Guatemalan food. Some decided to skip out on our morning activities. First we went to Chamche for worship. Then we went back to Santa Cruz to do more children’s ministry. Now we had the balloon ministry, crafts, and games. We were the leaders of Grades 1 and 2, after we had worship and did the Prodigal Son drama. We then did some digging, the guys were overjoyed to have the chance to break stuff with a pickaxe.

We visited Karren's house for a traditional Guatemalan barbeque. Then we played soccer against the Guatemalan school staff. It was a whole lot of fun!

- Alyx & Ben S.

Day 3

Both teams had the same experience by the end of the day (where one team went in the morning, the other team went in the afternoon & vise versa) so I will share the main story of the day.

One team started the day by participating in a real Latin American experience, shopping in the market!

The students were divided into teams and given 100 Quetzals (the Guatemalan dollar) a list of items to either purchase or take pictures of, and sent off to the market in the center of Guatemala. Points would be awarded for getting the best price on items, for the best looking produce and for purchasing the correct items. J Bonus points were to be awarded for the first team back to the guesthouse & for the team with the most amount of money left over at the end.

Some of the items on the list were fairly well known, such as a bunch of celery, a pineapple and a minimum amount of black beans. Others were a mystery to the team, like wiskil, sandia, apio & cebolla. Then there were the strange & exciting, like getting a picture with a pig’s head (dead or alive), getting a shoe shine, posing with a police officer, eating a tortilla hot off the grill and holding a live chicken! What a blast!

Off the teams raced, assured they had the speed & knowledge to win this competition! A few challenges stood in their way of total domination. One challenge was that the list was in Spanish. The little bit of Spanish the team members had learned was noticeably silent on “market phrases”. Most of the vendors spoke no English & in some cases only spoke the local dialect of Poqomchi! What a hoot watching the team members attempting to mime a pig’s head or asking where they can get a haircut! Another challenge was that there are thousands of Guatemalans in the market and the streets are very, very narrow. The Canadians were very polite & often got shoved aside by petite Guatemalan women in a rush to get their shopping done before all the good deals were gone! If one was to stop and let a Guatemalan cross in front of them, often they had to wait for a line of 15 or so others who were “motoring” through in tow. It was as if the market was working in opposition to completing the task in good order.

Once all the teams had safely returned, as with all competitions, there are winners & there are losers. One group triumphed with a reward of marshmallow-covered chocolate on a stick, while the others were left to console themselves that at least there would be a number of tasty meals over the next few days! Grocery shopping was done for the week.

In the afternoon, the team went to a nearby coffee finca (mini-plantation) to learn about the process of picking & preparing coffee beans. The surrounding mountains are at the perfect altitude for growing some of the best coffee in the world. Many of the team members now have a new appreciation for what it takes to satisfy their caffeine addictions.

The entire team changed into good clothes & walked to church for another real Latin American experience. The congregation of 200+ was very energetic with their worship, most were singing praises at the top of their lungs! The message was given alternately in Spanish & English by Les Peters, the Field Director of Impact Ministries, and translated by his wife Rita. With the addition of greetings from and to a number of guests, an alter call & more worship, the service finally ended after about 2 ½ hours! It is very eye opening to see how other cultures worship & pray. Lot’s of emotion here in Guatemala!

With dinner & an evening of debrief and discussion of the day, it was decided that lights out would be at 10:30 PM. The next few days will have very earlier starts & the team needs to be rested up for their children ministry activities.

Hasta mañana!

- D. Werth

Day 2

We have split our group of 48 into two teams for most activities, so now you will get to read a few stories from each team.

11A

Hello Parents, Friends and Relatives!

Ever since we landed we've been pretty tired, but we are still excited for the experiences ahead of us!

Yesterday we visited a Village in the mountains. It was quite the experience to get there, our van had to go up several hills so the driver asked us to pile into the first two rows while he was driving. When we got there, the houses were made of dry up mud and fertilizer and wood. We arrived at a small shack with a dirt floor, only to find out it was their church. 35 people could barely fit inside. While we were there they sang us a song in their native language and they gave us small square weavings that probably took them a week to make each, and gave us each one. Some of the weavings had deer and birds on them :). The pastor then shared his testimony with us before we visited his house. We were presented with a drink that was corn which was boiled and then pureed and served with sugar. They were all really excited for us to try it. The first half of the glass was actually pretty good and then the texture was a little overwhelming :). Some of us had more than one glass, and then some of us threw up :s.

After lunch we headed to the biggest hospital in nationwide. There we went and prayed with the children who were there and gave them a small toy afterwards. This was a really moving moment for most of us. The girls afterward visited the maternity ward and gave gifts to the brand new mothers and to the mothers who had lost they babies. We also visited the newborns and one grabbed Brooke's finger which made us all smile.

At the end of the day we all went on the roof and had devotions (by our free will) which was pretty fun. :D.

Right now a group of us are playing soccer on a dirt field and others are playing with these cool new tops that one of the leaders gave us :).

We miss you guys so much, but we are having a blessed time here.

God Bless

Kassy Delainey, Jon Saji :D

11B

Hi World!
This trip began immediately with God's Holy Spirit working in our lives. Although the guys and girls fight over the bathroom every morning and night, we are finding that we have become closer as brothers and sisters in Christ. First, our team began with some tough physical labor which included passing concrete blocks to each other, lifting logs, cleaning windows, and digging holes. We were able to converse with a few of the Guatemalan children, without much success, but we were able to feel their acceptance and gratitude for us through their eyes and smiles.

After lunch, we had the incredible privilege of meeting Brittney, Josee, and Elise's sponsor children. At first it overwhelmed the entire team to see how they were so generous to us when they have so little. After spending some time with them, we came to see how, in reality, they are so much more wealthy than us. We were humbled to be welcomed into the homes of people so strongly bonded with God and with each other. It turned out to be entirely mutual. We blessed them by showing God's love, and they blessed us by completely accepting us despite our pasts and cultural differences.

For our last meal, we were brought to the house of a family willing to share their experiences and culture with a lot of strangers. They shared the testimony of what God was doing in their lives and demonstrated afterwards the steps to creating a traditional Guatemalan dinner meal called Doblados.

Our day ended with the group meeting on the roof top of the guest house in devotions and prayer. We began with worship to the Lord and later went on to share the experiences of the day. The Lord did incredible things through us last night. He gave us the ability to share with each other our callings as well as words of encouragement. God led us through worship to him once more, and we were left with thoughts and beautiful reflection for the night.

We all miss home so much, but know that God has brought each of us out here for a reason and that with each next step on this journey, we will be moving closer to God as well.

-Sergio Rojas and Elise Tailleur
:)

Day 1

As I sit here putting together my thoughts to share about our first full day in Guatemala, perhaps the best thing to share is that at this very moment, 9:30 PM, a group of 10-11 students are sitting on the roof of the guesthouse participating in a spontaneous time of devotion & worship.

Wow!! Not your regular “picture” of North American teens!!

We awoke to a hazy day with temperatures starting in the mid 20’s & progressively rising into the mid to high 30’s. The sudden change from single-digit temperatures to HOT created a variety of responses, mostly smiles & a lot of sweat!!

The team toured the Central Square in Guatemala City through the morning. Visits to the National Palace & the Central Cathedral gave us a glimpse into the political and religious history of Guatemala. This country was, and still is very much a culture, of peoples who are bound by Mayan beliefs that embrace polytheism and an animistic focus. Overlay on top of this Catholic practices syncretized with Evangelical tendencies & one begins to understand the confusion that holds the Guatemalan people captive.

The history of Guatemala is characterized by conquer, colonialism & continued oppression for the average individual. The majority of indigenous Guatemalans speak & live as their families have for hundreds of years, and as a result the political and economic forces of the 21^st Century take advantage of their ignorance. The poverty is magnified by the modern & North American style advertising that is everywhere. The country is going into a presidential election, but the majority of its citizens don’t even speak the national language of Spanish! A great eye-opener for our modern & tech savvy teenagers!

The team was great on our whirlwind tour of the Central Square. For the history buffs, the tour was far too short & for the non-history buffs, the tour was far too long.

We then took a 4-hour drive from Guatemala City to Tactic, through stifling heat, over a very large fault line, up into a cool rain forest (no rain but the cooling relief was enjoyed by everyone), the entire time blanketed with the acrid diesel exhaust from trucks hauling bananas, mangos & very skinny cows. Despite two-lane highways with vehicles travelling three abreast while passing one another on sharp curves & steep hills (mothers should erase this last sentence from their memories), we all arrived safely in Tactic just after 4:00 PM.

Everyone’s luggage was found & all moved into our home away from home for the next 6 days. No cockroaches (yet), but the cold showers were a blessing to those that risked showering with the electrical breaker box IN THE SHOWER STALL WITH THEM!! Welcome to Tactic!

Following a short hike, a meal of Guatemalan nachos with beans & guacamole, the team met with the staff of Impact Ministries to be oriented for the days ahead. Busy days on the horizon! Come back to this blog regularly to follow our journey.

- D. Werth

Pack 'N Pray

This past Saturday, we had our annual Pack 'N Pray! Our team packed over 2500 pounds of donated clothing, toys, shoes & blankets to take with us to give away while we are away in Guatemala. We ended with a time of prayer for the team & the individuals we hope to minister to.

Here are some pic's of the event!