Best sleep all week despite those noctural bug bites! Thankful to have brought anti-itch cream and Deet mosquito spray! Barely heard the roosters this morning. I awoke to hear the team laughing upstairs. Richard, one of our team members, had shared a funny story apparently the night before...one that I still laugh about to this day. I suppose I can share it. ;) He said, "I was tickling all the children last night and next thing you know I grabbed a mother, I don't think she liked it very much!" Now, I don't know why this was so hilarious to me but I simply could not stop thinking about it. I laughed every single time it entered my mind to the point that I had to think about something else to control myself. I know it was harmless but I just imagined the look on that mother's face as she was getting swooped up by an American! HAHA! The mothers always seemed to blend in well with the children and I could easily see this happening. The children were especially becoming more and more vulnerable to us as the week went on, they held our hands, enjoyed being picked up, and loved being tickled!
We were amazed to witness such a beautiful sunrise that morning. It was definitely different than any other sunrise we had seen while in Paquila. The outside shower upstairs overlooked some of the community and from a distance, just between some of the trees, you could see beautiful hues of yellow and orange, gray and blue. It was a great way to start the day! Most of our days in Paquila were sunny and it rained every afternoon around 4pm.
Today was a really special day in Paquila! We were presenting the families with their sponsor pictures. This is a day we share with all of those who helped sponsor a stove for a Guatemalan family! Our manner of presenting this day was just as important as the gift of stoves. We were truly being the hands and feet of Christ. We wanted the families to know that these stoves were gifts from God and that very special people wanted them to have them. We not only presented a photo of the family who purchased the stove, we also presented a bible verse for them to hang next to their photo. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, hat he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Spanish Version: "Porque tanto amó Dios al mundo, el sombrero le dio su unigénito Hijo, para que todo aquel que en él cree no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna."
For well into the morning, the team separated and delivered the photos by the direction of our guides. Some of the groups were larger based on how many sponsor families they had. The night before, we had secured all of our 5 x 7 photos onto colored mat board. It was a nice keepsake for the families and added a decorative touch. We also presented each family with a spoon and other utensils for cooking. There were very personal moments in each home, each time, and with each of the families. The families were so gracious and thanked us repeatedly for our work. We not only were able to share their joy with them, we also witnessed the families cooking on the stoves. That was the most rewarding part for us, seeing the stoves actually in action. It was awesome watching one family cooking corn tortillas. In Guatemala a meal is not a meal without a tortilla, they are virtually served with every meal. Tortillas go with just about everything.
That afternoon we visited the local clinic, market and school. The market was very close to the church and displayed a colorful display of fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables, and spices. Among the market was a local tienda, lemonade stand and even a machine that made local icee drinks...hence the pink mouths! Some of the merchants sold blouses, belts, coin purses, jewelry and spices. A stage was set up with sound equipment and music which worked well to bring the community together. Our next stop was the community health clinic. It was very small and only had one physican and two nurses. There were only a few rooms, one for patients, one for surgeries, and a pharmacy. As we entered, we noticed a small table with index cards displaying the patient names. They provided medical service, medication and basic health education to the community. We wanted to ensure that they had purified water, so we arranged to leave a few water filters there which would come in handy during the distribution of medicine. We also left extra medical supplies for them. After leaving the clinic, we walked to the local school and had an opportunity to hear about what the children learn each day and how often they meet. We left toothbrushes, toothpaste and school supplies for the children. I took the time to read some of the wording carved in the desk and it was awesome seeing the word Jesus inscribed with a heart around it. ;) "No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure."
Later that afternoon, we headed back to the church for some fun surprises! Two team members blew up a large bag of soccer balls, some filled our red piñata with candy, and others grabbed large orange bags for a trash pick-up. We packed as much candy in our aprons and pockets as we could. The children were hovered by the windows anxiously awaiting what was in store for them. We all headed down to the soccer field, tied up the piñata and encouraged the children help with a trash clean up first. They did a great job and filled up several large bags of trash. We could hardly wait to surprise the kids so the team spread out among the large field and on the count of three, we all starting throwing candy up in the air. It was complete chaos but fun and enjoyable for the children. Some of the guys randomly started throwing frisbees and soccer balls out into the field and the children were running wild! We then asked everyone to gather by the piñata and Eddy, our main helper for the week, was the first to strike the piñata. It didn't take much force before candy flew everywhere and the crowd went wild again! As we left the field, we were sad to see that at least a hundred more of the locals were running down to the field and all I had left was a sad, red, ripped up Elmo. Our goal was to show these children how much we loved them and how special they had to been to us all week. We sure had some happy faces that day and it meant the world to those sweet faces!
"To the loved, a word of affection is a morsel; but to the love-starved, a word of affection can be a feast. "
— Max Lucado
We were happy to learn that the pastor invited us to a special worship service that night. They shared their gratitude and every emotion I had encountered this week was literally on my sleeve. It was one of the most emotional, yet bittersweet moments of my life. The community shared their hearts, their praise, their voices and every ounce of appreciation you could imagine. One of our very own guides, Marta, sang a beautiful song and it touched us all. The pastor and speakers poured their hearts out and tears of joy were all over their faces. Max, our amazing team lead, had an opportunity to speak to the community. He expressed how much we enjoyed being in Guatemala and how happy we were to help them. He gave each of us an opportunity to come up and express what this experience meant to them and we had our wonderful interpreter there to help us communicate what was on our hearts. Some of the words from the team were unbelieveable and will probably stay with me indefinitely. Everyone spoke with such emotion and it was special to see the community react to our words. Spencer, one of our team members, shared his experience and sang to the community. He also expressed that he had lost his father a week before leaving for Guatemala. He acknowledged Mike, another team member at that time for also losing his father that same week. They embraced a moment of silence and we all continued to share our kind words. Two hours later, we left feeling whole with the community. We had communicated with the families all week but this was the first time that we were truly able to share with them how special they were to each of us.
That evening after dinner, we had devotion and discussed our final morning in Paquila. We arranged gift spaces in the church for our interpreter, team leaders, guides and children who helped the most during the week. Some of us had special items that we wanted to leave behind for a special person we had connected with that week. We all went through our luggage and left behind anything that we could, ie: jewelry, shoes, mirrors, clothes, toys, soccer balls, flashlights, etc.
Stay Tuned for Day 7...
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