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