YoungLife in Guatemala!!

On Tuesday night we got together with the director of YoungLife from Guatemala City. He and his wife drove to meet us and we were able to have dinner together. It was a real treat for us as we went to a nice restaurant (big change for us- boys psyched!) and being able to chat with another couple felt much like home (despite language barrier). 

Turns out they are in a bit of a cross roads as starting YL in Guatemala has been difficult. Our timing was amazing as I believe we truly blessed each other. Below there is a list of prayer requests and they would appreciate being lifted up around the world as we told them we know our YL crew would be honored to do so. 

Brief background is that they led Nicuraga YL with about 80 staff and 300 volunteers. They were asked to start YL in Guatemala and have now been here 17 months, only to lose three staff members in the last few months due to conflicts with the mission. They have two kids, live in a new country and have no community to speak of. You can imagine the difficulty. Here is a translated version, thanks to a bi-lingual buddy, on their prayer requests... 

Thank you, thank you for (agreeing) to spend a separate and special time to pray for my family.  Oh how we really need prayers.

My wife and I have had difficult conversations and we ask ourselves several things.  Does she feel that God did or did not confirm this calling?  Another question was ‘Do you feel that our leadership has decreased or diminished?    With everything, it feels like we’re starting anew, like we just graduated and now it is time to start a first day (of the next) class.  We have been here 1 year and 5 months already and there are (days) where we cannot see the (light at the end of the tunnel).  Her health has not been very good as it relates to food, she has been robbed twice and the last time the (lady of the house likely means person who takes care of the house) stole her wedding rings, we had to fire her but could not recover the rings.  Sad.

I pray every moment I can and I ask myself what is the next step.  What should I do Jesus?  Sometimes I don’t know, I hope to find an open door, but for now I can’t even see the door (no hope).

We have made the decision (implied by coming here) to leave behind those who we love and who love us, in exchange for (pursuing) those who do not love us.  This is without a doubt, the same decision Jesus made.

Prayers:

1.       For my wife, that she may find peace amid many questions

2.       My children, I have been thinking and praying to find them a place to study English or music twice a week in the afternoons

3.       For me, that Jesus may show me the way and the next steps

4.       Sandra and Aury are the only 2 staff in this country and it is possible that they won’t be here in 2 months

5.       For my back pain, stress, lesion, I don’t know I’ve had 4 years with this pain

6.       I have received an invitation from a neighbor in the community to climb a volcano, I believe (hope) is in August, it is crazy but I have nothing planned for August

7.       To find friends in the community we live in

8.       For the ‘Recuerdo’ (Remember) club, the ‘Vida Jovenes” (Young Life) clube and the ‘Kaminal’ club

9.       For our possible trip to Nicaragua in October to visit family and friends

10.   That Jesus may give me passion for music as I have abandoned the guitar (quit playing)

In an additional email they asked us to pray for the following people:

1- Hector Sandoval

2- Estela Ambrosio 

3- Sandra Ambrosio.

4- Annette Aguilar. 

Have it dear friends! We know you will.

A new week

We begin a new week with a fairly set schedule and one that, frankly, is a little too busy. We start each morning with breakfast at 8am prepared by our host family. It's always good but the portions are small and we get to listen to the boys battle for extra morsels of food. We then scramble out of the house to go help at the school. On Monday, upon arrival, we learned that the kids had exams this whole week and our coordinator was unaware of this detail. This was a real bummer as Friday she had told us that we would be helping in the classrooms all week. So instead mom and our oldest went to the baby center where they care for malnourished infants while I and the other 3 kids helped in the kitchen and dining area. This meant doing dishes, sweeping, preparing food and cleaning after the kids eat. They feed over 200 kids 3 meals a day here with an efficiency that would impress any restaurant. Our work was not what we thought but we try to simply remind the kids that it's about serving others and being available for God to use us where HE wants us. There were moments (that you can imagine if you have kids) but for the most part it went well.

Then we headed home for a quick lunch and off to 4 hours of Spanish lessons. Antigua is known for Spanish lessons and we each have our own teacher. It's a bit long and a little exhausting but being that we have two months in Spanish speaking countries, hopefully it's worth it. 

This schedule books our whole day really as lessons are from 1-5. More busy than we desire but it's how things worked out and we believe it will help the kids appreciate other parts of the trip more.

Our youngest proud of her work

Anna is the main chef and we sifting rice here.

Sunday

Sunday is here and we are excited. We learned of a bilingual church near by and also get to eat out as our host arrangement doesn't cook on Sunday. Don't get us wrong, she is very sweet and the food is good, but we never know what the meal will be and it's just a bit different than our norm.

The worship band played songs singing in both Spanish and English.

The church service was an awesome experience and just brought home what and why we are here with a great message on "renewing our minds" and not getting caught up in the world's norms. 

After church, we went across the street to a crepe restaurant that was fantastic with dozens of options and smoothies - the kids were thrilled. 

We spent the rest of the day touring a museum and then had dinner at a very small taco joint run by a mom and pop. The food was excellent, simple and very cheap, unlike most of the city. 

1Q = 7.65 USD roughly

Our oldest believes selfies are required everywhere!

Kid's Blog

Our kids have taken to blogging and sharing their photos so far on the trip. If you want a different perspective on our adventures, you can check out or sign up for our son's blog here and his instagram account is first and last name as one word.

Hiking Volcano Pacaya

So much is happening that keeping up with stories on here is tough to do. Will have to reevaluate how and what we tell. While I know some would prefer pictures, they are proving difficult to load with the internet here. Could spend 15 minutes trying to load them up only to see them crash. Safe to say though that Antigua is certainly growing on us as this small town is both vibrant and friendly. Tons and tons of great cuisine which is slightly a bummer because our host family cooks for us everyday except Sunday. It's nice to have meals made but the kids don't like everything and portions are smaller than they are used to - welcome to the 3rd world!

A few days ago we had a free afternoon so we opted to hike a local volcano. This involved an hour and half drive and then about a two hour hike to the top and then coming back down in about half the time. Some parts were quite steep but for the most part it was doable. Below is Fuego which is further away and not the one we hiked but very cool to see even from a distance. This picture was taken from the car. 

SJ was unhappy with her seating arrangement and proceeded to scream the entire drive up - that was fun. We drew a line in the sand and made her suck it up, not giving into her demands which was hard but even just in the last two days has proved worth the effort.

In the background is volcano Fuego which is extremely active and has small eruptions more than once an hour. What looks like a cloud is smoke from Fuego.

This is a lava river. What looks like black soil is actually a deep river of lava rock from the eruption that occurred March 2014. Incredible to see! The pictures don't do it justice.

The boys hiked out a ways in the dried lava river.. because, well they are boys. 

Same pic no zoom

Boys standing in lava river

Here we are roasting marshmallow in the rocks. They cook up pretty fast.

This was a very deep pit that the lava filled up. It's over 300 feet deep!!

This guy has the best store location in the world perhaps! On top of volcano with nothing in site. He sells chips, candy, beer and fruit. He hauls about 100 lbs of supplies every day from his local village, which is the same village our guide was from.

All in all, this was an amazing experience and worth the time and cost. Our booking was done through AntiguaTours.net

Finding our Stride

Yesterday was still a bit of an adjustment as we took in our new surroundings and all that make up Antigua. We pretty much walked the whole city (at least the main part of it) and while lunch was a success it took us way too long to find the supermarket where SIM cards could be purchased. Ironically it turned out that it is quite close to our current home. After struggling to grasp Spanish and not enough clarity on what we were buying, we walked out with two SIM cards and local number for Q100 (about $13). Mission accomplished!

Then we checked out places to take Spanish lessons as there are over 20 in Antigua. We chatted with a few and then ultimately picked one which we felt was a good fit - we start Saturday. After that we went back for dinner and pretty much crashed - though not all got a good sleep as SJ was up for most of the night and mom bore the brunt of the effect.

This morning we reported to the project and helped hand out food to some of the moms of students. Only the poorest of the poor attend this school and the entire operation is funded by donation and sponsors. It really is an impressive operation and somewhat famous in Antigua we have learned as we have yet to find someone who is not familiar with the organization. This was hard work but very enjoyable as the women receiving the food were so appreciative and friendly. We loaded up very sketchy bags which the women brought for about 90 minutes and were all a bit sweaty when done. One of the employees said at times he does it alone so he was most appreciative too. We didn't get any really great photos of the whole thing because we were all busy but here are a few. After this we hung around for a little while meeting a few others but then decided to go do something  as our time next week is pretty much booked between volunteering and Spanish lessons. What we did though (hike a volcano) will have to be another post as the internet speed makes this a bit of a chore, it was too amazing to highlight quickly, and it's late.

C&C's station

Pile of beans and peas. This was only about half of what started and we ultimately gave it all out

Safe in Guatemala

We arrived in Guatemala safely and our bags showed up, no problems (ended up having to check big packs at flight gate in U.S.). The custom agents love to give us the double look but passed us through quickly.

Our host family speaks little English but is very friendly and we communicate well enough. It's a perfect place to begin our journey as it will stretch us just the right amount. By no means what we are used to but safe and reasonably clean. We have two rooms with 5 beds total but that is about it. One child asked me "is this place the worst we will stay in?" They were not thrilled but after two planes and an hour car ride everyone was pretty beat, not to mention no dinner.  Here is one room.

This morning we went to the project where we will be working and discussed their work, got a tour and met some of the workers. Pretty amazing organization. 

Now we are just wandering the city on foot trying to get our boundaries, find SIM cards and schedule Spanish lessons. Amazing to have no schedule or time table. Here is our lunch stop... Pizza and quesadillas! All were hungry. First wifi we have had.