Wonderfully Weary!

Our team concluded "phase 1" of our time in Guatemala today with some very "impactful" activities. The first thing we did after breakfast this morning was deliver gifts to the children of the orphanage we were staying. It was wonderful to love on these beautiful children and give them much enjoyed presents. We'll hope to post some pictures on our web album tomorrow (Saturday).

Next, the team boarded a bus for a cultural outing to the historical city of Antigua. This was the former capital of Latin America, but was destroyed so many times by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that they moved the capital an hour northeast to Guatemala City. We enjoyed visiting a number of shops decked out in a beautiful array of colors, and purchased a few souvenirs to bring home. One of the neat events of the foray into the "mercado" was running into a few folks who were in Guatemala drilling a well with Living Water International! I'm hoping to be able to connect Oscar Chiquito of Los Olivos church with LWI's Guatemalan rep to see about getting a well drilled in one of the villages where Los Olivos is working.



We rode the bus back to Sumpango, where we quickly helped load the Woodlands Church team's 30 action packers and 30 suitcases on the top of a "chicken bus" ... ready to head to the airport in Guatemala City. These buses are pretty sweet rides ... decked out to the max!


Our experience with the Woodlands team was excellent, and it appears that the doors are wide open for some kind of connection to continue with them in the future!

We are now in Guatemala City; Christi and Cherise are staying with our friends' family, the Fernandez, and Joyce and Dave are staying in a comfortable hostel. We're looking forward to a restful night (without a 6AM wake-up call!) ... and then some time looking at some potential ministry projects here. Hopefully we'll be able to upload some pictures and videos tomorrow.

Blessings to all ... thanks for all your encouraging comments! Buenas noches!