Monday began the real "work" of our mission trip as we'd be traveling to El Tablon. Before the others were out and about, I enjoyed my quiet time right outside our room. It was just chilly enough to want a small blanket as I prayed. What a beautiful way to start the day!
Mario's Rooms has a restaurant attached, which was very convenient for us to have breakfast together each day. The food was delicious, and this provided a great time for us to have our morning devotions as a group before leaving for our day.
The fresh fruit and fried plantains were our favorites.
We got the vans packed and we were off! When we arrived in El Tablon, there were lots of people waiting for us. Montejo immediately began passing the bags of platanos (plantains) and eggs to the women and children. Mom and I decided this felt a lot like the Harvesters food distribution we do in Wellsville, only this was Guatamala-style.
Montejo was quite the jokester, and made us laugh by pretending to place one of these 50+ pound bags on a sweet little boy's head. Honestly, these kids were so strong, I wouldn't have been all that surprised if the toddler had taken it and run down the hill with it.
Once all of the food had been unloaded, we found our places to begin our VBS.
Mom and I planned a very simple 3-part VBS with the themes God Made Me, God Loves Me, and God Saves Me. For each of these, we had a story, craft, and song. We enlisted Dana and her friend Danilo to help with reading the stories, Dana read them in Spanish and Danilo translated to the Mayan language of Kaqchikel. One of MANY things I learned on this trip is that there are 22 Mayan languages still spoken in Guatemala. In the villages we attended, Kaqchikel was most common. Although the kids do learn Spanish in school, the pandemic has messed with school there as it has everywhere, and their Spanish isn't quite as fluent as it otherwise would be. So we were very thankful for Danilo, who is only 18 and tri-lingual! He is a very impressive young man for sure.
We made fingerprint snowflake crafts with Psalm 139:14 ("I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made") printed on them in Spanish. It was especially fun to explain to the kids that we had lots of snowflakes at our home in Kansas, because they have never seen snow!
The kids also made smiley face buttons reminding them that God loves them, and beautiful crosses reminding them of what Jesus did for them on the cross.
We finished our VBS with snacks for everyone, always a crowd-favorite.
Once the VBS was concluded, we began calling names to distribute backpacks and scholarships. Deb is the organizer and brains behind all of this, but Mom and I got to help. We had no idea how rewarding this would be as we received so many hugs! It was THE BEST.
Mom with her sponsored kids, Brenda and Sergio. . .
. . . and adorable little Tomas. Look at little man so proud with his new backpack!
And me with our sweet Natalie:
It was so awesome getting to meet all of these beautiful children and their mothers. The women here are artisans and have formed a cooperative with their skills and goods. Our new friends from North Carolina founded a non-profit called True Trading Co, which has the following mission "We are a Christ centered non-profit that exists as a platform for artisans and farmers in developing countries to expand their market and sell their goods at a fair wage." They were able to meet the artisans and purchase some of their beautiful goods to bring back to the U.S. to sell in their shop.
As we were finishing up, we waved good-bye to ladies walking their food back home. Remember these bags are super heavy, and they are walking uphill. These women are strong in more ways than one.
Then we were treated to a delicious dinner served in the kitchen that Education and More recently built.
This was my first experience with Hibiscus tea (Jamaica tea) which is very popular here. We had it hot this day, and cold during multiple meals to come. It's easy to see why this tea is so popular; it's very tasty!
We were also able to see the new bedroom Education and More built in December for Natalie's family. Their family of 8 was living in one small room, so this additional room will be a huge blessing for them, I'm sure.
Maria Sandra has the most beautiful kids! And I'm thankful they'll have a little more space for living and sleeping now.
Natalie loved cuddling with Coleman, Deb's bear. I think I know what I'm giving this sweetie the next time Dana visits.
Our drive back to Panajachel was peaceful and we got to see some more beautiful vistas of Lake Atitlan.
I'd say Mom and I had a great first day of VBS, unlike any VBS we'd ever done before!
We made it back and had a little time for shopping before supper. We walked down to the lake and checked out fun shops along the way.
Tuk Tuks were everywhere in Guatemala. They are basically little 3-wheeled cabs (the driver uses a handlebar like a motorcycle, rather than a steering wheel) and we could get a ride for about a dollar.
We made it to the lake in perfect timing to see the sunset. Simply gorgeous.
We ate supper at Valentino's, packed the backpacks for the following day, and fell asleep with our hearts and bellies full.
The next morning our destination was Choacruz, where we would do basically the same thing as we did in El Tablon. As we arrived, we realized we would be walking through a cemetery to get to their village. The cemeteries are all above ground here, and are oftentimes very colorful (although this one was just white).
We got some cuddles as soon as we arrived: me with adorable little Evelyn, and Dana with precious Baby Dana (named after her!).
The kids got settled and we began our second day of VBS.
Laura is the head of the women's cooperative here, and she is the beautiful momma to Baby Dana.
We helped with fingerprints on the snowflakes, put buttons together, and were amazed at the artistry on the crosses. What an awesome day!
And here's a video of one of our songs. I'm sure the kids were making fun of our Spanish, but we were trying! This is "God Saves Me", and we taught them simple signs to go along with the songs as well.
Next up, scholarships and backpacks!
The people here are SO beautiful, from the babies being worn on backs to the women who had likely carried multiple babies over the years.
Once again, we were blessed with a delicious meal courtesy of the women. I was amazed at the size of the carrots here! They were so huge and delicious.
Once again, we were able to talk to the ladies and see their goods. I purchased this beautiful scarf made by this beautiful lady. Everything here is completely hand-made. I can't even imagine how long it takes them to make a scarf like this. Such patience and talent!
Deb led us back to the vans once we were done shopping and talking.
Unfortunately, Deb had received some devastating news about the tragic loss of her great-nephew, so she and Coleman were flying back to Illinois that evening. She is so fun; our group was definitely not the same without her. We are certainly continuing to pray for all of her family.
That evening for dinner we were in for an extra-special treat. We hailed a couple of tuk tuks and headed back to Joe & Cindy's house.
Actually, our destination was Patricia's house, which is below Joe & Cindy's. Patricia taught them Spanish when they first moved to Panajachel, and they are now practically family. She is an amazing young woman and taught us all about their culture. She began by teaching us how they make tortillas, beginning with preparing the corn using limestone (crazy, right?).
We each had a chance to grind the corn on the stone grinder (that reminded me of a huge mortar and pestle). If I had to do this to make tortillas, I'm afraid my family would starve! Thankfully there are machines for this process today, so this was more of a history lesson. (But back in the day, these women would have had some huge muscles from all of the corn-grinding!)
Then we got a lesson in tortilla-making. Turns out, we were all pretty terrible at it. Patricia and her mom made it look so easy! Trust me, it's not.
We were constantly having the dough stick to our hands or fall apart on us. It was a true lesson in humility!
We enjoyed the traditional Pepian dinner with chicken, rice and vegetables. It was delicious!
After our bellies were full, Patricia taught us about the traditional clothing of the Mayans in Guatemala. It was fascinating to learn about the different articles of clothing, the history and meaning behind each, and how to actually wear them.
Patricia chose the perfect güipile (blouse, pronounced wee-peal), corte (skirt) and faja (belt) for each of us. These articles of clothing are so versatile and the women can wear them all the way through pregnancy!
We made quite the good-looking crew! (We all especially got a laugh out of Doug's outfit, which you can't fully appreciate in this picture.)
After another very full day, Joe offered to drive us back to Mario's in his truck. This was our first experience riding in the back of a truck just like the locals. What an awesome evening spent with our new friends learning so much about this interesting culture steeped in history. A huge thank you to Patricia for welcoming us into her home and teaching us so much!
And thank you Jesus for these wonderful days spent feeling your blessings showered on us and sharing your love with others! (This is Dana's stuffed Jesus that was returned to her in Choacruz :) )
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