Recent Trip to Guatemala, Part I

Messages from our Mission Firefly Trip to Guatemala 11 - 17 July 2010...
Blessing come in small packages, even in small countries. Ours this week are from a bit of each!
Our Mission Firefly group arrived July 11, 2010 for our 6th visit to the village of San Antonio de Sacatepequez, Guatemala, in the past 14 months.
Our group of 15 includes seven young people, many of whom are serving on their first mission trip. What an adventure for them, as well as for all of us!
This particular trip includes the blessing of a beautiful little girl named Isabella, who is a Guatemalan native adopted 3 years ago by our leaders, Billy and Christy Taylor. This trip marks her first return to her native country, and she has totally captivated the entire village of San Antonio with her beauty and caring ways. Though she speaks no Spanish yet, she is not shy to play with the local children and mingle with the adults. Her heart seems so pure and loving that all who see her simply want to pick her up and hug her. She radiates the love we are taught by Jesus, and every smile or rolling of her huge brown eyes reminds us of the love we are meant to share, even with strangers in a strange country. Isabella is such a blessing to her family and friends but now she is blessing people in Guatemala without so much as a word in their language!
Our Monday began by Mission Firefly meeting for breakfast together, then departing in the rain for the village. Road conditions were made nearly impassable for the last 1/2 mile so we carried the food in boxes disintegrating from the dampness. All the village turned out to welcome us with Principal and teachers in the forefront.
We cooked a lunch of lentils, rice and sausage with fruit for dessert, then were entertained by the school children. They put on a show just for us, with singing and dancing. They were so proud to show that they have learned a "Dating Dance" called "El Son" with couples and several songs of welcome. It was really special to see how these children had worked in preparation for this special presentation to welcome us back!
We worked several crafts with the children. They loved the masks of different animals they made as part of the "Old McDonald" song. Then Pastor Jorge Cerritos, a bi-lingual Christian from a local church, who is visiting the village, joined us in dedicating the fifth cinder block home we have helped them to build in the past 9 months. The family who are receiving the new house were appreciative. It replaced their shack built from tin and corn stalks.
With weather closing in we walked up the mountain to the cars and returned to Antigua just before the storm arrived which caused the streets to run like rivers, up to the hubcaps of some vehicles.
Today, the 12th, we again walked into the village as the road was made near-impassable by torrential rains throughout the night. We constructed crafts again with the children. First they made clay figures out of Play Dough, then they blew up balloons and beach balls. The last effort turned the school room into a chaotic, melee of happily laughing, boisterous kids of all ages!
Then we fed them a wonderful Paella, which was lovingly prepared by members of our group. It is exciting to watch these children so enthusiastic to partake in any meal, let alone a flavorful dish like Paella! They came screaming to line up for seconds and thirds too!
It makes all of us pause to understand how much we take our abundance in food for granted, while much of the world struggles merely to find enough to survive. I know that it is part of God's plan that we who have plenty share our Blessings with those who are not so fortunate!
Also, today, part of our Group went to another village called, San Pedro, where there is a model school. We will try to consolidate their vision and duplicate it in San Antonio.
Once again we find that our efforts to bless the small village of San Antonio ends up as a blessing for each one of us. The young members of our group learn to consider others who have less, and realize that we can become close friends even with people of a different culture, who speak a different language. And those of us who are older consider this as the way we are meant to live our entire lives. So some of us feel we have much "catching up" to do!

We'll be posting the final part of this trip in a few days ...LOOK FOR IT!