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