We are home!

Hello all!

We arrived home safely about 11:30 Sunday night via bus from Chicago.

Our trip went nearly without a hitch.  We did have a few pieces of luggage that did not make it to Chicago on time.  Our connection in Houston was a quick one with only about an hour to deplane, go through customs, get our luggage, check in our luggage again, go through security, and get on our plane.  We made it with a few minutes to spare.

We would like to thank everyone for their prayers and following us on our trip while we were doing God's work in Guatemala!

Sincerely,

The Impact Guatemala 2010 team.

Saturday Post from Teresa

Our group in the central park of Antigua.

Our last full day in Guatemala started with Kelly Jo leading us with some worship songs.  We all had the chance to share with the team an experience that had touched us or was in some way special to us while serving in El Yalu. 

We had a breakfast of cereal and fresh fruits.  I am going to miss the fresh papaya!  Some Guatemalan coffee also got us all off to a good start.  We headed to Antigua for a day of tourist activities, namely shopping.  The veterans of the mission trips gave us amateurs some tips on bartering in the markets, which proved to be very useful the moment we entered the markets.  Each vendor had the “best price for you” and “many colors to choose from.”  Later, we would encounter several street vendors, selling either necklaces, scarves, or musical instruments, who not only let us know they had “many colors to choose from,” but also that we needed these gifts for our mothers, friends, mother-in-laws, etc.  We walked around the Central Park and had a delicious lunch at one of the restaurants near the famous Arch of Antigua.  Some groups went off for more markets, while others headed towards the ruins.  One group went exploring an art museum. 

We headed back to Oscar’s for dinner with the elders of Los Olivos.  The meal was a collection of Guatemalan dishes; fried tacos, fried stuffed red peppers in tortillas, and chicken wrapped in some type of corn.  Like usual, everything was delicious.  Dessert was plantain tortillas with cocoa beans in the middle.  Even with all of the incredible food we had, the best part was not the meal we shared, but the gifts and gratitude after the meal.  It began with the elders of Los Olivos thanking the team for coming and doing the work that was done during the week.  It then went through our team members, thanking Karla for the cooking and hospitality, the elders and Los Olivos for being so warm and inviting our entire time here, and Oscar, for his hard work behind the scenes, hospitality, and vision that allows so many people to come together and work as brothers and sisters of Christ.  Oscar and Karla gave us beautiful Guatemalan tablecloths as tokens of their appreciation.  Our tables are all going to be dressed beautifully with the gifts we have received the past two nights!  The elders and Oscar were presented with gifts we had brought from Wisconsin, cow pie candy J.  We had given Karla her gift earlier in the week.  She was given a chance to enjoy a nice day at a spa where she could put her feet up, get pampered, and relax after the hard days she has put in cooking 3 meals a day for us.

The time we have spent in Guatemala has been the greatest gift of all, for both the mission team and for Los Olivos.  The friendships forged through language sharing will continue to be a part of many of our lives when we come back home.  The inspiration and hard work that Oscar has demonstrated to spread the Gospel while meeting basic needs of those in need will be a motivation for many of us to continue to reach out and serve those around us, locally and globally.   The memories of the children in the village laughing will be carried in our hearts as we head back to our own families and neighborhoods.  While some of us came not knowing what to expect or in what way we serve and others came to see old friends and continue to serve, I think we all leave filled with joy and peace, knowing that with God, we can and do accomplish great things.

Post from Teresa

Roger playing soccer on the side of a hill.

Kelly Jo and Adam in Sumpango.

Kristy, Adam, and Krysta at the produce market.

Strong Man Matt carrying cement to the medical center.

Deb beginning our devotional time with her guitar and voice.

Francisco and the women in the kitchen of the medical center at El Yalu with their new microwave.

Oscar grilling like the grillmaster.

Patty "cleaning" the rice in the kitchen at the medical center.

Peter and Otoniel after EFL classes at Los Olivos.

Roger has been feeling under the weather, so I was filling in for a little while – so now we have 2 posts from yesterday!

We started our morning with songs, prayer, and our devotional for the day.  This time in the morning to gather together, sing, and pray helps give our day focus and pulls us together as a team.  Kristi led our devotional on thankfulness this Friday morning.  We then all loaded the bus and headed towards Oscar’s for breakfast.

One of the most delicious treats of this trip has been walking into the home of Oscar and Karla.  The smells upon walking in are as warm and inviting as the people in the home.  Breakfast was delicious French toast and fresh fruit.  Those of us who dragged behind updating blogs discovered that the French toast had gone fast and we had to wait for more to come up (it was really good)!  Our last day in El Yalu began with very well fed stomachs.

On our way out of Sumpango, we stopped and bought some supplies needed for the stoves, including cement.  Our last day of work in El Yalu was light.  We split into 4 teams again; 1 in the kitchen and 3 out in the village working on stoves.  Materials were carried to the different sites and a few new stoves were started.  In the kitchen, rice was cleaned for lunch.  We gathered back together at noon and shared in the joy of presenting the women in the kitchen with a new microwave.  On the first day we had worked there, some of the women in our group suggested raising some funds to replace the old microwave that “sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t.”  On Thursday, Oscar, Patty, and Kim stayed in Sumpango and purchased the microwave.  The women were grateful for it and happy to put it in the place of the old one. 

We served the children lunch one last time and had just a few minutes afterwards for goodbyes.  What joy it has been to work in this village and serve in God’s name.  It was a blessing the time we had and the people we met, especially the children.  There was much laughter and joy mixed in with our sweat and elbow grease this week.  Several of us left with heavy hearts to leave it behind. 

We had some time back at the hotel to refresh ourselves and then head out to Sumpango to enjoy some free time.  We had a tour of the home Oscar and Karla are building.  We split into different groups and explored the town.  One group headed to a hardware store and another to get Otter’s hair cut.  We all ended up seeing each other in the market at the center of town towards the end of our free time.  We went back to the Oscar’s home, where he was grilling a delicious dinner of steak and potatoes, served alongside nachos, homemade guacamole and salsa, and topped off with ice cream for dessert. 

Our last night with EFL lessons was rewarding in so many ways.  Our team was presented with gifts from all of the students.  They gathered us in the upstairs room and presented the tablecloths to us.  We exchanged email addresses and facebook names.  Many pictures were taken and many hugs shared.  It has been an incredible experience sharing English with the people of Los Olivos and they, in return, have shared just as much Spanish.

We were able to enjoy our night a bit knowing that tomorrow morning’s devotional started an hour later than the other mornings and we could enjoy that much more sleep in the morning.  Each day brings the promise of great works to be done in God’s name and each night brings the peace of accomplishments he has done through us with his grace and in his name.

Friday Night

Still Hauling Supplies!

Kristy communicaing with some children at the home of one of our stove sights.

The Soccer Team.  A little hilly!

Coffee Beans

7 PM Friday Night

Hello everyone,

I am staying back at Oscar’s house to catch up on our blog so I can skip having to do it late tonight.  Some of us have a bit of a cold including me.  The rest of the group is over at the church doing English as foreign language training and flannel graph training.

Today we had worship at our usual time of 7 AM.  It kind of looked like zombie land.  We all are pretty beat.  Our schedule has been quite busy and our mission is winding down.  At our worship Kristy read Psalm 100 and then we all prayed for what we were thankful for.

Karla had fresh fruit and French toast for breakfast.

We spent the morning to mid afternoon at El Yalu.  We put the finishing touches up on the three stoves and took remaining supplies up to the forth site.  At the forth site the stove foundation and three courses of brick were placed.  We also served the children their 3 times a week meal again and left around 2:30.

We cleaned up at the motel and then went to town and spent an hour or so checking out some of the Tiendas (small stores) and the market for an hour or so before going to Oscar’s for dinner.  Dinner tonight was steak, grilled potatoes, and peaches and ice cream.  Yum!

As I stated earlier the team is at the church right now for our final training.  This will complete our mission so to speak.  Tomorrow will be a fun day sightseeing at Antigua.  Maybe the volcanoes will be visible tomorrow.  It has not been very good for volcano sightings this week.  We have had clouds a quite a bit but the weather has been great.  Cool nights around 50-55 and then warming up to 70-80 during the day.  Today was the warmest day of 80 I am guessing.

Not a lot of highhlights to talk about as I was not able to talk to others and was a little more isolated that other days.  Most of team did go up this huge hill past a quarry to this majestic view of El Yalu.  Some of us did do that yesterday but today some of us went even farther until we got to some of the fields where workers were working their crops.  Also up there were coffee trees.  I am including a picture of them.

The other highlight has is a personal story.  The Lake Wisconsin church is thinking about doing a fund drive to pay for a playground on a piece of property that Los Olivos owns.  We have tried to script some video and were not quite sure what might work.  As I was coming up a road for the last time to the feeding center I looked over and saw these children playing soccer.  What was different?  They were playing on this ridiculously slopped ground with bamboo goal posts.  After cutting through some fields and across a ravine I was able to get to them and record and photo them.  Certainly I had to play a little soccer with them.  Big mistake.  One time I was kicking the ball down the hill I was not sure I was going to be able to stop without taking a dive.  Anyway God has plans for this moment.  I think there will be great things that will come of it.

Finishing up the team is so appreciative to all and we have discussed the comments that some of you have posted.back home that have been monitoring our actions and praying for us.  We have heard your prayers

Wish us a wonderful relaxed day tomorrow and a safe trip home on Sunday!

Roger

Thursday Posting

Boys will be boys

Peter showing his muscles

Kelly Jo cooking up some brew

Patti with the kids

Roger and Kristi at EFL training

Melanie at Flannel Graph training

Fuzzy slippers anyone?

No room in front for Kim

 10 PM Thursday

Ola everyone from Guatemala.

Another jam packed day here with much of the same as yesterday.

Today’s devotional was done by Matt and the theme was prayer.  It was based on 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  Matt was asking himself the question, “Why doesn’t God just fix it?”  He was referring to all the poverty, malnutrition, and other issues plaguing the world and particularly here in Guatemala.  Matt had a good answer to this question.  He wants us to seek him in prayer so he can do his work through us.

After worship it was off to Oscars for a breakfast of omelet, hash browns, and toast.

After breakfast it was off to El Yalu to continue our work on the stoves.  We completed 2 stoves today with another probably being finished tomorrow and a forth well underway.  We also finished hauling bricks to the last house I discussed yesterday with a very steep road leading to it.  I couldn’t help but notice a boy running down this washed out road like a mountain goat and with little effort.  It was like he had shock absorbers or something on his legs.  We seemed to have a little less demanding day today and most were able to move around the village during or after their work interacting with the children and people of the village.  Patty had some fun playing tickle tickle with the kids and Katie was playing duck duck goose with some others.   Some of us found this amazing high spot overlooking the mountains and the whole village that no photo will ever do justice to.  The boys on the trips have been troupers.  It has been a real gift to have these kids on this trip.  They have brought a new dimension to this mission that should not be forgotten.

After cleaning up from the grime of the day we had dinner at Oscars.  Today’s menu was chicken, rice, and a light cake.  We never go hungry with Karla cooking.  We then had a pleasant surprise of having Vicenti and his daughter Hilda sings us some wonderful songs.   They have sung to us on other trips and Hilda’s voice is incredible.  Many often have tears in their eyes after hearing their serenades.  Yes Craig I recorded the whole thing so you can enjoy it.  Craig Heilman our executive pastor was unable to come this year but our prayers are with him that he gets well and will be able to continue the work down here that he has been a big part of.

Our English as a foreign language went well.  This is our third cycle through our scripts with the people of Los Olivos.  It appears that people are learning from us.  At least they are having fun and we are as well.  There seems to be a lot of interaction and some relationships have been built.  Often after class they are using the words and phrase around the church and using them on our staff.

Melanie, Kim, and Patty continue to concurrently teach their class of flannel graph training.  I cannot speak much for it myself but I have observed that the people in the class seem very interested.

Hope all is well with everyone at home!

We wish well to Matt’s mother and Sam’s grandmother who is recuperating from some surgery she had while we are down here!  We will be home in a few says and back to our loved ones holding down the fort whom we miss very much.

Adios

Wednesday Posting

A happly woman who owns a stove

The guys mixing up cement

Hauling up bricks.  We need to be mountain goats for this place!

10:30 Wednesday

Hi Everyone!

Another jam packed day in Guatemala.   Please check out our film strip.  I was able to make one with a few more shots that might be interesting.

 Up for devotional that we start at 7 AM.

Deb led us again with her guitar through a few songs.  Kelly Jo was in charge of the devotional today.  We reviewed our team covenant as well as she shared the scripture of Romans 12:4-19.  She emphasized that we form one body in Christ and we all have different gifts to offer on our mission and we discussed how our different gifts are a blessing on this mission.

After our devotion we went to Oscar’s house for cereal and yummy fruit.

Then we were on our way to El Yalu to work on our wood stoves again.  We will be finishing 2 stoves tomorrow and one or two on Friday before our mission is complete at El Yalu.  Two of the stoves had a concrete base laid today with the other nearly ready.  A forth stove was started today and we needed to take supplies from the community building where we are based at and take them to another home.  This time the home was fairly close to the facility but the last 100 yards off the road you nearly needed to be a mountain goat to climb to the home’s entrance.

During the day Oscar took us to see two properties in the village that Los Olivos has purchased.  One parcel for a playground which I mentioned yesterday and another for a church.  He mentioned to us that when the village came to El Yalu that people said you will never be able to create an evangelical church in their village.  But here a short time later they have people attending church in one of the homes and have had nearly a hundred people come to Christ there.  Praise God.

The team again served dinner to the lesser fortunate children of the village.  I guess they are handpicked by the doctor for the Hand-In-Hand feeding center as ones most in need and they are the ones that get the meals 3 times a week and are allowed to play there.  We also were able to meet the man and woman who are in charge of the facility.  I am sorry I did not write their names down but the man was originally from Appleton, WI.

After a quick cleanup at our motel without anyone loosing electricity we went to Oscar’s house for dinner.  Karla had made spaghetti and a stir fry chicken and cookies.  Karla needs to be commended in so many ways of serving our group as well as previous others that have come down here.  Kudos to her.

After dinner it was off to church for our English as a Foreign Language.  Tonight we switched students for the first time.  I did not get to talk much about it to the others but one of the things I found interesting was in our group.  Our group is responsible for biblical terms like God, Christ, Holy Spirit, and so forth.  To have a little fun we played bingo and used pennies for the markers.   When we handed out the pennies the students were fascinated and looked them over so carefully and turned them over to see what they looked like and all.  They probably never have seen US currency before.  We gave them each one to take home and mentioned that the words on the top said “In God we trust”.

Tomorrow will be more of the same.  I hope I am not boring anyone.  I see we have had comments in the blog and I have passed them on to the team and that the blog has created a lot of interest.

For some of you technical people  I prepare this right before bed and my roommates are already crashed.  I look and prepare photos and then I post them at Oscar’s during breakfast time.  That is my narrow window of opportunity.  So thank you all for sharing the good news of God with us and supporting us in so many ways.  We know many of you are praying for us and that gives us comfort.

Tuesday's Posting



Krysta and Kelly Jo drawing animals in the dirt with the children

  

Bill Boor hard at work building a stove





Theresa showing children their picture



The team breaking up clay for morter

Just a couple of the many children in El Yalu

 10 PM Tuesday Night.

Another interesting day in Guatemala for the team!  We still have some people having cold showers and some have even changed rooms as theirs have had problems with power.  Tonight was an adventure for me and my roommates Matt and Sam.  Sam was taking a shower and the power went off.  I ran down to the breaker box outside down the sidewalk and tripped the breaker to get our power back.  I saw there were two breakers that were popped and tripped them both on.  I did somebody a favor.  Well this happened 3 times and I was the lucky one standing with shampoo in my hand naked in the shower in the dark.  Ok enough of that picture.

This morning we began our worship with a few songs with Deb and her guitar.  Peter Wetzel gave our devotional and it was based on teamwork.  I particularly paid interest in a parable of one potato in a sack rotting all the potatoes in a sack and if we didn’t work as a team that could happen to us.  It was just a reminder to stay focused as a group and work together for one common purpose of serving God in Guatemala.

After our worship it was into the bus and onto Oscar’s house for a breakfast of pancakes and fresh fruit.  I am not particularly a pineapple fan but it is really yummy down here.

After breakfast we were off to El Yalu again for working on the stoves we had started.  Today was not quite as intense and physical as yesterday as we had gotten the materials already to the homes we were working on.  Various people split up again and went working on stoves.  Some have gotten farther along than others but they all are coming together.  There have been many opportunities to meet with the people and especially the children as we walk to the homes and as we work.  We have masons that are mostly doing the cement work as we mix and cut brick and anything else that is needed. 

The interaction with the children is something to be cherished.  They seem so at peace and content.  They have so little but just seem to have calmness about them.  As I wrote yesterday many are malnourished and are not living in the best of conditions but they are still children who love to play and just learn and watch us.  They often love to see themselves in a photo in our digital cameras.

Oscar took each of the teams one at a time to see a completed stove in the village.  There are 24+ now and we were able to meet the people that are using them and they are very appreciative and proud of their new stoves.  One of our masons was the proud owner of one and we were building one for his grandmother’s house today.  BTW I got a lot of video of these interviews that I am sure will come of good use the some of you will eventually see.  We have so much and they have so little.  This has become a real passion for the folks at Los Olivos to help these people in need and our support has really made a difference but there still is a great need here.

Late in the afternoon we went back for a quick cleanup and then to Oscar’s house for a dinner of barbecue ribs, baked potato, and salad.

After dinner it was of again to the church for our English as foreign language training.  It has been a real hoot.  We have all ages from children to elderly.  They are enjoying the training and we already are walking in the street or around the church and they are approaching us speaking in English they just learned.  Melanie also continued her training with a good sized group on how to create and teach Christian lesson plans to the children.

Peter and Krysta Wetzel met with the elders of the church this evening to discuss their so to be full mission work with the Los Olivos church.  Let’s pray for them that things will work out and they continue to accumulate the support and funding to be able to move to Guatemala and serve God as missionaries.

Well its 10:45 and my roommates have already crashed so it is time for me to close down and call it a night.

Thanks for reading this and all your prayers and support!

Sincerely,

The Impact Guatemala Team.

Monday Posting from Guatemala

One of the stoves we are building

Roger cutting a cement block with a machette

A litle boy at one of the homes we are building a stove for

The team cooking dinner for the children at El Yalu

Children eating at the center

English as a second language training

10 PM Monday Night.

Today we had a jam packed day.  We were up and worshiping at 7 AM.  Everyone made it on time.  That was good.  Unfortunately some either had cold showers or their electricity was not working.

At worship today Deb Boor led for a few songs while playing her guitar.  After a little singing it was my day to do our daily devotional.  The emphasis was on being a servant and leadership.

After our worship it was onto the chicken bus and on our way to Oscar’s house for breakfast.  That is when I find most the opportunities to update this blog.  Some of you may wonder who is this Oscar?  He is a leader of Los Olivos church down here in Guatemala that coordinates almost all the mission trips down here as well as so many other great things to share the love of Christ to his people.  Without him these trips would be very difficult.

We then headed to El Yahu to build stoves and serve the children.  A group called Hand-In-Hand with support from throughout the world built a very nice building that is our center point at El Yahu.  It is a wonderful facility and Los Olivios church is working together with them to help the very needy people of El Yahu.  It is a poverty stricken village and is mostly supporting by farming.

The day was interesting.  It was our duty to start in groups to build stoves.  They are primarily a vented cement/brick stove with a hot plate on top.  Most homes in the village burn open wood fires in their homes for cooking and it is very unhealthy for them.  Currently there has been 24 stoves build in the village and the number is growing.  For Door Creek folks this is where some of your Advent Conspiracy money has gone.  Believe me it is a great cause.

An interesting tidbit was we were to carry the bricks to these homes to build the stoves.  36 for each stove.  Our first trip was ½ mile carrying two bricks.  After many stops and aching bodies we reached our destination.  After that we were rather animate about getting a pickup to deliver the bricks close to the homes.  Our mason had a pickup and we took two trips and a lot of muscle but we got the bricks to their destination and a couple of the stoves are half done.  I would love to get into more detail but I have so much more to talk about that I feel I need to move on.

For lunch we had beans and rice and after our lunch the children from the village came in for a meal.  These meals have been started because of the malnourishment in the village and especially the children.  They receive one meal  3 days a week.  There are also many other health related agendas happening in this outreach including prenatal care and vitamin supplements.  It was very hard for me not to get emotional after seeing these children with so little and simply what a good meal means to them.  Also at this center they have a play area.  A nice cemented area but one problem they have is no playground equipment but just a monkey bar area for 500+ children.  There is talk of trying to get some support for some equipment so these children have a place to play.  Could this be another Advent Conspiracy item for this year?

After a long day we headed back to our motel to try and freshen up a bit and get to Oscars house for dinner as we our English as a second language classes after dinner.  We had only 30 minutes to get cleaned up and on our way but we all pulled together to make it on time with cold showers or no showers for some.

Our English as a second language was being run concurrently with some Children’s ministry instruction so that the members of Los Olivos church can better be equipped for helping the children better understand the love of Christ and that God loves them and how they could become better acquainted with him.  They had a huge crowd of 57 people.

Speaking of huge crowds we also had one for English as a foreign language as well.  We had 83 people break into 5 groups and began teaching them some simple English.  Each day this week we will be teaching people with each day extending the language just a bit more from the previous day.  Today we taught simple phrases such as “Hello”, “My name is ….”, “It’s nice to meet you”, “What’s your name?” and a few others.  We added some great little games and simple things to get them to interact more with each other.  It was a great success and we are looking forward to the next 4 more days teaching English.

Well so much to say and so many other little stories between the lines but there simply is not enough time or web space to share it all.  So Adios from Guatemala!

Your team in Christ!  Impact Guatemala 2010

Hand-In-Hand

Sunday Night Post

9 PM Sunday Night.

We are finally in our rooms winding down from the day and about 40 hours without sleep for some of us.  As I explained  earlier blog our travel went well.  As a matter of fact darn near perfect.  After arriving in Guatemala City we quickly were spotted by Oscar and were soon on our way to Sumpango on what they call the chicken bus.  (Just a fancy painted old school bus)  It was a beastly one at that.

We got to our hotel and got cleaned up for dinner.  We had an hour or so.  No rest for the weary.  At Oscar’s house we were quickly greeted by Karla and were escorted to their new 3^rd floor patio.  It is beautiful.  We had dinner up there on a rather chilly evening.  Coats almost were not enough.  Karla had wonderful stuffed chicken breasts with spinach and wrapped in bacon.  We also had some potatoes, stuffed squash, and salad.  After a day with either snacks or airport food it was really great.

After dinner we attended church with our friends at Los Olivos.  Kelly Jo and Peter went to the front and said some warming words to the congregation.   We were honored with being able to share Holy Communion with our friends.  That was wonderful and very ritual.  I was reflecting at the time how here we all are children of God from thousands of miles away worshiping our God together.

After church we were greeted hundreds of times from the congregation and many people were touching up on old friendships and just being joyful.  The outpouring of smiles and just warm welcomes were something that will be hard to forget.

Close to the end of the night there was a commotion outside the church and the smell of incense.  I along with others was able to witness some kind of religious parade.  There was this hug float held over the heads of the people caring it and on it was a large lit cross embossed with other decorations.  There was a large brass band following closely behind.  I got a little video footage of it.  Down here the Catholic Church in town celebrates all kinds of things including the passing of “the day of the dead” just last week.  I will have to try and get more details.

Well I should turn in and get some sleep.  We have devotionals at 7 AM tomorrow and I am leading that so somehow need to be awake.  I see my two roommates are already crashed while I am typing this and the TV is screaming in Spanish get this the Green Bay Packers v s Dallas football game.

Tomorrow we will be going to the village of El Yalu to start building brick stoves for several families.   These will be vented and more efficient and should reduce respiratory problems for the users of them.  Most cooking in El Yalu is done over an open fire using fossil fuel.  For Door Creekers reading this is part of our Advent Conspiracy at work from last Christmas.

Well I hope to post this tomorrow morning during breakfast.  We hope to gradually get a few more pictures out there when we can.  We still need to keep focus on our purpose here and that is to serve the people of Guatemala.

I hope you enjoy the post and that the grammar and punctuation is bearable.

Roger

We have arrived!

Hello Everyone!
We have arrived in Sumpango!  We got in a couple of hours ago and all is well and our travel was safe and went well without any problems.

We are at Oscar's & Karla's house and will be eating a meal Karla and her helpers have made for us and then off to church.
We may not have time to post anything else but please check our blog if you are interested!

At the Houston airport

We are at the Houston airport now and just getting ready to board for Guatemala City.  The time is 8:49 Central.

We are on our way!

Hello Everyone,

It is 6:15 AM Sunday morning and we are half-way between Chicago and Houston.

 We met at Door Creek Church around 1 AM.  It was a bit chilly as the wind as always, was blowing on top of the hill.  I could not help but notice Adam had his little teddy bear sticking out of his backpack and ready to go.  Please see the pictures as I took one of that moment.   With us this trip are three children.  This should be a wonderful trip for them to see and learn what life is like in another part of the world and to share how God is doing work in Guatemala.  A pleasant surprise waiting at the church was Craig Heilmann.  This was a difficult morning for him not being able to go this year but he blessed us with a prayer and we were on our way at 1:30 AM.

 Our trip to Ohare airport via bus was a fast one with very little traffic.  I believe it took a little over 2 hours to the terminal.  We did have to wait a bit to check our luggage and go through security as they were not open yet.  Somewhere around 3:30 things opened up.  Our flight was prompt and the plane appears full.  At this time the sun is rising and the day is slowly beginning.  Not getting much sleep for some of us is a bit stressful but we know God has a plan for us and that will take care of itself.

Perhaps at Houston when we have a small wait to change planes I will be able to find some wifi to post this on the blog.