We had a funny moment at the seminary when we returned last night. Everyone rushed to their rooms to take a shower knowing full well that there probably wouldn’t be any hot water. Much to our surprise, there was no water at all! They had been working on a water issue at the seminary and just left the water off…forgetting about the 33 very dirty hard workers. It was actually hilarious as everyone figured this out. There was a building that had showers that had water. Some folks headed over there, just in time for a seminary worker to come and turn the water on so that we could take warm showers in our rooms. It all turned out great…and we were all clean and ready for bed!
The group that was going to Cenma (Farmer’s Market) today had to be ready to roll by 5:15am. The rest of us were rolling a few minutes after 5:30. Our kids have been great with this…no complaints at all. I feel certain you should try this with them at home…have them leave the house at 5:30am each morning before school.
We arrived at the center to enjoy a great breakfast of sausage, black beans, awesome rolls baked by Ethan, Chloe, and Brooke, and juice and coffee. The children started arriving at the Center for the first breakfast shift, so the City of Hope crew hit the road to continue our projects from yesterday, while the Center crew served two breakfast shifts to over 100 kids, washed dishes, painted the walls, played with kids, and showed the love of Christ. The City of Hope crew continued working on the wall. We are comparing it to the Berlin Wall since we have been trying to tear it down for two days. No matter how many President Reagan impersonations we do, we just can’t “Tear down that wall!”
Two teams worked on ripping up the rest of the old hardwood floor, while another group worked on the outside area. Another group started un-tiling a house on the City of Hope property. Just like the crews yesterday, we ended another day of laughing, working hard together, and dreaming about what God has in store for all of the folks that will be served by the Hope for Guatemala ministry.
Lunch was back at the Center. It was amazing! I know the kids felt the same way, because we talked about it all afternoon while we were working together. We had fried chicken, rice, cucumbers, papaya, fruit juice….and the walked down the street to buy chocolate bananas for dessert. The chocolate bananas cost 12cents US, Julia Martin said she was thinking of buying 24 of them to eat. She didn’t today, but we will see how tomorrow goes.
While we were at the Center for lunch, we had a lot of opportunity to play with the kids. Our “grande ninas” (big kids) were a huge hit as they hugged, jumped rope, took pictures, swung kids around, played soccer, and laughed with the kids coming to the Center for lunch.
The Cenma team spent the morning at the Farmer’s Market picking up vegetables that were donated to the ministry to be given to families in need. Mike Timms took 6 students for this experience. I can’t wait to hear their stories!
The Center crew spent the afternoon serving two more lunch shifts, cleaning dishes, finishing the painting, and working on other projects. The City of Hope crew continued our projects and also enjoyed a big rainstorm. Everyone worked really hard today on all of the projects. Jose keeps saying “I can’t believe y’all have finished all of this!” Good news…we didn’t…God did…that’s what make it so incredible!
Dinner back at the Center was amazing again. We are all definitely gaining weight on this trip! We had steak, salad with avocado dressing, rice, fresh tortillas, and fruit punch. We also had Popsicles for dessert. Everyone ate a lot after working so hard today.
We will do devotions and then call it a day pretty soon. Tomorrow we have two groups headed back to City of Hope and my group will work at the Center. Our goal was for every person to get to rotate through each of the ministry opportunities. Thursday is game day where we will be hosting all the kids from Hope for Guatemala at the new City of Hope location. Picture a carnival, circus, and the coolest party you’ve ever been to…that’s what we are gearing up for!
