Hello All!
We made it, safe and sound, and what an adventure we have had! First of all, thank you to everyone for your prayers! They were felt and greatly appreciated.
Everything has gone well so far. The flight was smooth for the first hour, mainly due to the fact that we sat at the terminal waiting for some storms to clear the area. No problem; we'll wait on that. We took off at 7pm and landed in Guatemala City at 10pm (Texas time.) Customs was a breeze, and at the end of it all was Brandon's kind smile and warm hug! After loading up the vans, we did what every American would do; we went to a Burger King!! Delicioso! Oh, one huge God-thing that happened: Brandon told us that because of the heavy rain that was going on that evening, all flights were being diverted to Nicaragua and Honduras, but for Some Reason our flight wasn't diverted.
Our overnight accomodations were in Guatemala City at a seminary. We arrived at 11:30 that night, tired but happy. Those beds were the most comfortable beds in all of Central America. Seriously.
Today we drove to our final destination, Quetzaltenango (known as Xela to the locals, and henceforth to this blog.) It was a great drive on the Pan-American highway, for the first half. Surprisingly the road is very nice, but they have a slight problem with landslides at this time of the year due to it being the rainy season. We found out this the hard way when we ran into a traffic jam, actually more like a traffic picnic. It was quite obvious that we weren't going anywhere for a while. People were milling around outside their cars; many were selling their goods up and down the now parking lot. We spent our time journaling, talking, snacking, and taking bathroom breaks on the side of the mountain. We also played a "new" card game of "pens", thanks to Phoebe. It is actually "spoons", but we didn't have any spoons, so we used pens. The men took walks up to the landslide, which was at least a mile from where we were. But, eventually, after 3 hours of this spontaneous rest stop we were off again. The region is absolutely beautiful, and the weather is perfect! Did it get above 70 degrees today? I say nay nay!
The winding road eventually led us to Brandon and Jenny's house. We are some amazing travelers - no car sickness (due to a little extra Dramamine!) Jenny greeted us with her familiar cherry smile and hugs for everyone (must be a family thing.) She also had some warm, homemade vegetable soup ready to serve! We have spent the evening in fellowship with Brandon and Jenny as well as Shaun and Chantell, another missionary couple here. Shaun actually was the driver of van #2, and he has been a tremendous help for our team.
So, this is where we are right now. We are heading to our guesthouse in a few minutes. Tomorrow after church we will pay a quick visit to the orphanage to see what supplies we will need. We have been blessed by a safe journey, good camaraderie, and great fellowship with some amazing missionaries.
Thank you again for your prayers, and please keep praying that our time at the orphanage will be fruitful and that God's love will shine through us and bless these children.
