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
:)