Its in the blue van...

Hi All!

Wow! What an amazing two days we have had!  Sorry about not posting yesterday; we couldn't get an internet connection. Yesterday was our first day at the orphanage, and it was wonderful! We were received by shy little faces with warm smiles.  In the morning we started working on sanding some metal railings and steel doors to get them ready for painting. Brandon dropped us off with a few supplies, and then he and Mike McM. went back into town for more supplies.The orphanage is about 20 minutes from town, so we were expecting them to be gone for about an hour and a half.  They left around 10am, and didn't return until 1pm.  We had all left various things of ours in the van, and, sure enough, at some point throughout the morning we all needed something that was in the van.  So the catch phrase of the day was, "It's in the van." We managed to get a lot done, without any  injuries!

The orphanage is away from town, nestled between a volcano and a mountain. It is on the side of a mountain, with an incredible view of steep cliffs and beautiful trees. The property slopes down to a beautiful river, which right now is full of whitewater rapids. The actual orphanage building is nice by Guatemala standards; we will have pictures for you hopefully soon.  The guys have to remove the heavy steel doors from several rooms, carry them downhill about 100 yards to the "farm area" of the complex, sand them, paint them, and then carry them back up the steep hill and put them back in place.  The lady that runs the orphanage does not want the men to be around the kids (some kids have a lot of trauma in their past associated with men), so the men have to work out of sight from the main building — hence they are down in the farm area. They are literally between the chicken coop and the pig sty.  Add a few wandering ducks, sheep, and goats, and you get the picture.  Pray for the strength of our guys; they are having to carry these steel doors up and down the side of this mountain several times a day.  The ladies in our group are sanding a long metal railing from the main building to the classrooms.  As we are doing our work, we are being closely watched by many precious, shy faces peeking from around the corners.

It is the rainy season, and it usually rains in the afternoon.  So, in the afternoon we (the ladies) have craft time with the kids in the classrooms. That has been a wonderful experience. The kids have immediately attached themselves to us, and we have fallen in love with them. There are quite a few special needs kids, and they are precious. The crafts are a big hit, and we are also teaching them English (as requested by the lead teacher). We have had interpreters, and through them we are able to incorporate the message of our wonderful Saviour to the kids. The orphanage is run by a Christian group of women, so the kids are familiar with the gospel. One of the teachers even commented on Phoebe's name as being from the Bible.  It has been a wonderful experience.

We have been blessed with cool, sunny weather. It hovers around 70 degrees during the morning, and when the clouds roll in, it drops to about 60 degrees. (Sorry you had to hear that, but there it is.) Please continue to pray that the teachers at the orphanage will build on the trust that they have given us so far. Our group is an amazing mix of the Crossroads family; please pray that we will continue to demonstrate to the people at the orphanage God's love for one another. We have one member that missed today's activities because of a stomach illness. She is better this evening, but still not at 100%. Please pray for a full and speedy recovery for her, and please pray that the rest of the team remains healthy. Apparently it is hard to avoid the stomach bug around here. We really need your prayers for our health and strength.

Oh, one more thing...in the last entry I mentioned that there are a lot of firecrackers going off at all hours of the day.  We have learned that in Guatemala it is customary to set off firecrackers in honor of someone's birthday.  Friends and family will set off the firecrackers in front of the birthday person's house.  It usually begins around 4am and lasts all day.  You can't just light one; they come in these multi-packs of about 100. Someone mentioned at the beginning of our trip that it was Ron S's birthday on Wednesday (before we knew about the firecrackers). Hmm, I wonder if anyone is going to be awakened by some loud noises....

I'll keep you posted.

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