Lutheran Church of St John Groundwork Guatemala Mission

Today was a day that reminds us God has a plan that he will reveal to us in his time.  God's plan is not always what we think, nor is it always what we expect... We had a 2 hr drive to Buena Vista starting at 7 am this morning.  No, this is not the same Buena Vista that is associated with the Happiest Place on Earth.  This is a remote community on the edge of the rain forest that is surrounded by a river and sugar cane fields. There are no paved roads, they just recently acquired electricity, and their main source of drinking water is from a well or the river (where they also bathe, wash, and clean dishes).  There is a large population of single mothers as men are not very family oriented.  Many teenage girls are pregnant or have small children.  Pigs and chickens share the same space as the families.  When we arrived, this appeared to be a great opportunity for us to spread God's word and provide hope and comfort to those in need.  However, whe...

Today was a wonderful day. We woke up pretty early (I woke up around 6) and got ready for the day. At exactly 7am we had breakfast, holiday inn express Quincy style, minus the waffle maker, just the way we like it (if you know Kevin you get it). I had lots of coffee to wake me up. After breakfast and before devotions I got to visit with Sandra and Aracely. Sandra braided my hair, which is one of the best parts of coming down here (totally kidding), and then we went upstairs to "the upper room" for morning devotions, led by Aracely. She spoke about callings from God vs career choice. After devotions we went and put sun sauce and bug sauce on before choosing our van wisely (I got the van with the AC and got put next to quite a few Guatemalans, so I chose wisely). I'm not sure how many of you know this, but I am starting college this fall with the hopes of becoming an OB/GYN. Aracely is 7 months pregnant, and I was right between her and Sandra o...

Boy what a day! Today our group was treated with a delicious breakfast of pancakes. Appreciation of that breakfast was expounded once we took our visit to the dump. It is hard to imagine that this is the only food that so many families have to eat:( our meatless diet here is a feast in comparison. After we made our stop to the dump we visited the boys at Only One Child. It was a true testament to the power of one persons ability to change the lives of so many even if it's but only 8 at a time. When we returned to the ministry house we enjoyed a lunch with the missionaries! This was a wonderful time of fellowship. We shared lots of laughs and exchanged stories about one an other's families. It was a time I am sure we will treasure. The missionaries here have an obvious anointing to do the work they have been called to do. One of the definite highlights of everyone's day were the home visits. We all came back with stories o...

Today our group got it's first real introduction to the culture of Guatemala. We walked from the ministry house where we stay to a church not far from here.  Walking through the streets our group of 13 Americans led by Kevin did get some stares and strange looks from the people of the neighborhood.  No doubt they wondered who we were and what we were doing in their neighborhood.  But when we came around the corner to the church we could not have been more warmly welcomed by the people of the church.  Many in our group commented about the warm welcome and the friendly smiles they received which made them feel right at home.  But the worship itself sure didn't feel like  home to most.  Of course many could not understand the Spanish, but the style of worship is so much different than our normal experience.  People in our group appreciated the passion people expressed, the prayer that grounded the service, the joy in praise, and the dancers that...

Most groups that come down to serve with Groundwork Guatemala fly in on a Saturday.  It means that today for us was a slow day to get rested up from our travel.  We spent the morning unpacking our bags and all the generous donations that filled our suitcases.  After separating and putting away the donations we spent time helping with vitamins.  The ministry gives out thousands of vitamins a month to children, adults and pregnant women. Our job was to divide the large bottles into a one month supply.  After lunch we had a surprise trip to a local park.  Manuel, the missionary who lives here at the house where we stay, invited us to join he and his children.  The park was wet and muddy from the rain we had today, but it was nice to stretch our legs and a beautiful walk through the trees.  Tonight we had a chance to practice our faith lesson that we will be sharing with children next week.  Everyone had a chance to get in a nap and most too...

We have safely arrived at our home for the next week.  Typical travel with busy airports and full planes, but all was on time and the day was mostly uneventful.  The only excitement was when landing in Guatemala.  The runway had just come into view we were probably only 100 feet off the ground when the pilot gunned the plane and shot back into the air.  He later said the runway was obscured by a cloud and so we had to try again.  The cloud must have disappeared by the time we circled around because attempt number two was fine.  We are all tired from our day of travel, but I'm guessing sleep may not come easy since everyone is excited to be here and excited for our adventure to begin.  We will be praying for all of you back home and ask you to pray for us.  We will try to post daily updates and share all the amazing things God is doing in our lives. 

In just over a week 13 servants will depart for a week long adventure in Guatemala.  While there we will serve with the ministry of Groundwork Guatemala by teaching faith lessons, visiting homes and supporting the missionaries in their week.  Please pray for our journey, the work that takes place in Guatemala and that God would use this time to work in our hearts and lives.  Check back often for updates about our adventure. 

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 ...

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 fe...

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 thi...

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 ...

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.  Plea...

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....

Friday, January 22, 2016 Our day began once again with morning devotions with the Guatemalan missionaries and Kevin and Ginny Holmes. The missionaries are all Guatemalans who live here in Guatemala City with their families. Many of them travel 1-2 hours (some mornings it was three hours due to traffic) by bus each day to do the work here at Groundwork Guatemala.  They are such great people working for the Lord, each with their own unique talents and abilities. We will keep them in our daily prayers from here on out and ask that anyone reading this blog do the same.  At the end of the devotion time we each shared a bible verse with them to encourage them in the work they do here.  We had a special prayer time to pray for each of them and for the work they do here.  We took many group photos of our LCOSJ team with the missionaries to share with everyone on our return. Another nice experience we had was walking to and through the Kaminaljuyu (Mountain of t...

Today was our biggest, busiest day of the week.  We returned to the city of Amatitlan, about an hours drive.  But to a location known as Gonzalez Park.  If you see the pictures on Facebook you will see that they use "park" very loosely.  Just a concrete slab with some concrete walls on two sides and an old broken basketball hoop.  Today we were joined by a group of students from Spring Arbor University in Michigan.  They are here in Guatemala for a 3 week cross cultural experience and spend one day with the ministry.  There were 20 college students in the group.  They went on home visits with us and then helped with the faith lesson.  They were a great group and an amazing help. , especially since today we had around 250 kids in the faith lesson.  It's amazing how you can actually get 250 kids from 6-11 years old to sit down, stay quiet and listen, but they do.  Everyone on the team continues to do an amazing job, hav...

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 We had another awesome day here at Groundwork Guatemala. Our day began really early as we left with the mission team at 7:00 AM to travel two plus hours to the village of Buena Vista.   Buena Vista is on the costal plain, approaching the Pacific Ocean.   The main “street” in the village is an old railroad bed minus the tracks. We saw trucks loaded with sugar cane on our way into the village.   The morning after our arrival was spent visiting Connie and Greg’s sponsored child, Jorge Ramon Hernandez (he is 10 Years old and he is in 5th grade) during his break from school and then he took us to visit his school.  The school is nothing like what we know.  It is just an open air cement block building with six rooms (open doorway) and a tin roof. They were modestly decorated and had desks for the children. Several of the boys were playing their football (soccer) during the break and Ramon joined them while we were there. We next...

Tuesday, January 19, 2016 So we started off the day by waking up between 7 and 7:30 in the morning because breakfast was served Holliday Inn style (minus the waffles).  From there we went to the location that we were having our faith lesson and working with the children.  The location was called El Rincon and when we arrived we unloaded our gear and left the vans to find the bathroom.  First of all the bathroom was in the yard of this nice man who's name is Carlos.  Second of all it was basically a hole in the ground with raised walls around it so you could sit down.  That was interesting, definitely didn't plan on going #2 while I was there.  After we learned where the bathroom was I got to pull some water out of a well that was extremely deep.  The thing about this water was the fact that because we were so close to an active volcano it was all hot water not cold.  From Carlos' house we went to Francisca's house who is the littl...

Monday, January 18, 2016 It was a beautiful day in Guatemala City.   The temperature was about 70 and the sun was shining brightly all day.   Breakfast was ready promptly at 7am.   Ginny made pancakes and they were delicious.   We were all very excited for today because the Guatemalan missionaries would be arriving shortly before 8 so we could join them for their daily devotions.   All of us, except for Harrison, had met and worked with the missionaries in at least one prior year.   It was good to hug our friends and to get caught up on their families and lives.   Manuel gave the devotion on Romans 5 verses 1 through 11.  Since Manuel does not speak English, Cesar translated for him.   Carlos, who has a beautiful voice and often leads the music at his church, led the singing.  After devotions we loaded the van driven by Manuel and went to the woodworking shop of Only A Child.  This is ...

Sunday, January 17, 2016 Today was a very relaxing day compared to yesterday. We woke up around 8:30 and got ready for church before breakfast at 9:00. After breakfast we finished getting ready and had a few minutes of downtime before we left for church at around 10:15. We got to church safe and sound thanks to our awesome driver Manuel. At church we got to sing some songs that we know, just not in our native language. The message was very good, coming from Nehemiah chapter 9:1-38. After church we visited with Carlos and his oldest daughter. Then when we got home we ate a delicious lunch of grilled cheese and organized all of the donations. Thank you SOO much to everyone who donated something to this trip, it will be used for great things! After organizing the donations the ladies spent some time getting crafts ready for the kids to do during their faith lessons later in the week. Then we had about 2 hours of downtime to nap and reorganize our bags. I spent some quality time with...

January 17, 2016 Hola! We arrived in Guatemala City at about 1:00 AM. We had left church at 3:30 AM and drove to St. Louis in the church van.  Thanks to Aaron Clark for driving the team to the airport.  It made it much easier for unloading the bags that is for sure.  Thanks again to everyone that donated supplies.  We were able between the seven of us to get the donations to Groundwork Guatemala. Our first leg of the journey lead us flying into Atlanta, GA. There we had about a 2 and a half hour layover.  Our next leg was to Mexico City. We arrived there around 3:30 PM and then this is where our "fun" began. We were tied up in long lines for immigration for two hours and consequently missed our flight to Guatemala City. Once through immigration we then had to rebook new flights, get boarding passes and check our luggage again.  This all took an additional two hours.  We finally flew out of Mexico City somewhere around 10:00 PM and then did not...