Lutheran Church of St John Groundwork Guatemala Mission

Thursday Today our crew once again headed in two different directions.  The guys once again made the long drive to Buena Vista.  But it is funny how they came to love the drive.  During that time they laughed, shared and even cried with each other and the Guatemalan missionaries.  It was truly blessed.  Today was a holiday in Guatemala "Dia de la Raza".  This meant that there were a few extra helpers on the jobsite with some men off of work.  They were much needed as the day was spent mixing by hand and spreading 150 bags of concrete that weighed 100 pounds each.  That is a lot of concrete!  But it was just enough to finish the job, complete with some crosses pressed into the corners and a little artwork by Andy.  The Guatemalans had a great sense of pride at how  much was accomplished in such a short time.  But even better than the structure itself was the influence Andy, Mick and Tom had on the Guatemalans.  They were able to see three men of faith, working together and s

Wednesday We started the day again with a 7.00 am departure from the mission house to head to the village of Buena Vista.  Today the whole team was able to travel together with some missionaries some of us had not yet met.  The ride to Buena Vista was filled with laughter and story telling by us as well as the Guetamalans. It was wonderful to see the smiling faces of the children and all the people when we arrived.   We were able to finish the roof of the structure and start forming the floor for concrete tomorrow.  Some in our group went on some home visits within the village and spread the Lords word while helping the folks with different needs.  The neat part about todays work is the people of the village were having their church services in the same place we were working.  While I´m sure it wasn´t ideal for them to have to deal with our noise they continued to worship which brought joy to all of us working on the structure.  I feel the word to best describe today is relationshi

Tuesday     Today our construction guys left for Buena Vista at 7pm.  They had a very productive day working on the shelter there. They should be able to put roof up tomorrow.  They continue to receive great help from their new Guatemalan friends. They have faced a few obstacles along the way but have been blessed to find solutions and overcome.  Thankfully some of the time which might have been considered wasted has been filled with extra time to get to know and form relationships with folks here.        Pastor Steve and I were able to travel to El Rincón with the missionaries.  Our devotion time was led by Sandra.  We were able to do one home visit before lunch. These visits are always a special time to meet some people, share scripture with them and pray.   After lunch we helped Oscar with the kid's faith lesson, craft and snack time. There were over 140 children present! It is always amazing to see this young man of God teach and interact with the kids.  I was able to reconne

Monday Today our work began with a 7 am departure for the village of Buena Vista.  Andy, Tom, Mick and Pastor Steve were joined by Guatemalan missionaries Julian, Carlos and Ana.  When we arrived, after a 2 hour drive, we were met by two young men who lived in the village and were waiting to help us with our work for the day.  After doing a quick survey of the structure they wanted built and an assesment of our tools and materials we got to work.  It did not take long at all for six holes to be dug and a plan to come together.  The Americans were in awe of the Guatemalans and their hard work, but especially their concrete work.  They simply open the bags on the ground, form them into what looks like a volcano, fill the top with wáter and start mixing.  After a lunch break half the group set the posts while Mick and Andy took a try at welding.  They gave it their best effort, but could not get the hang of it.  So after a while of trying they decided it was time for plan B.  Andy headed

Travel Day Our group of 6 left Chicago early this morning.  We had a safe and uneventful day of travel, flying through Miami.  We finally arrived in Guatemala about one this afternoon.  After taking a while to clear immigration and customs, we met up with Kevin Holmes and our driver Manuel who brought us to our home for the week.  We took the afternoon to get settled into our surroundings, unpack our donations and organize the tools we will be using for the week.  We are tired from a day of travel and hope to sleep well tonight.  Tomorrow the ladies will stay at the house to help the missionaries with various projects.  The guys will head down to the coastal plain and the small village of Buena Vista.  There we will start to build a shelter that will be used to house their weekly medical clinic.  We are not quite sure what to expect when we arrive there or exactly how long things might take, so come back often to hear our updates.  Please hold us up in your prayers and the ongoing wor

This Saturday, 6 servants will start their journey to Guatemala to serve and work alongside the missionaries and staff of Groundwork Guatemala.  Our team this time is made up of Andy Caley, Mick Gooding, Steve & Carie Hayden, Lynda Keller, and Tom Obert.  This time our trip will be a little different.  Instead of spending our time teaching faith lessons to children, most of the team will be focused on building projects.  If all goes according to plan, which doesn't often happen in Guatemala, they will travel to El Rincon to work on a bathroom project, Buena Vista to build a shelter, and do some concrete work in Guatemala City.  All of these projects will help the ministry to better serve the people of Guatemala as they reach out with the love of Jesus.  A couple members of the team will stay with the missionaries to support and assist them in their daily tasks.  Come back to this blog all next week to get updates and more specifics on our work.  You can also see pictures st