Reminders of God's Wonderous Work

In the rain forest heading up a mountain, this was
and amazing experience

This past Monday the 2010 ACC Guatemala Mission team hosted an Encounter where we presented our feelings about our trip to Guatemala.  It was a wonderful evening filled with memories and emotions.  My emotions on May 27th were intense according to my journal.  Some of those emotions were very present at the encounter, not just mine but a number of the team wore their emotions proudly like a badge of honor.  Sara T gave a heartfelt version of how she felt and how the trip changed her and through listening to her story I realized maybe, one of the biggest changes that took place in me during the Mission.  It happened so early in the trip that I think I missed it.  It goes back to when to flight from Bangor to New York and the silage bales that read "Gods Wisdom".  From that point I was relaxed and I had decided that I was in God's hands, but it wasn't until I listened to Sara's story of our flight into Guatemala with the lightening and how I had told her "We were in God's hands" and that it would be ok.  This was not something that I would have normally been comfortable stating out loud, but I think seeing that mesage in the silage wraps actually gave me the comfort I needed to make that statement and apparently make Sara a bit more comfortable.  God's work is amazing and I witnessed, on this day of the trip some of his natural wonders.

Standing at the first shelf leading up the mountain in front of the
Mission House, and looking down on Villa Hortencia II

May 27, 2010
Today will be the last full day in the Village and I have a feeling of anticipation and disappointment.  Since we have some cool activities lined up and we'll be heading for home I'm excited to leave, but I also think there is much more to do here.

The pankcakes this morning were great and provided me with the energy I needed to work throughout the morning pouring concrete at the sport court.  I feel great when I can work a solid pace like we have done while here, and to work in such a beautiful place to create such a worhtwhile project makes the work easy.  While Wendy, Sara, Denise, Chris, and I continued to work, the rest of the team went on home visits and visited some of the ladies who will be weaving.  When the team returned we all signed our names in a wet block of the cement.  Though the court isn't complete, it will be awesome for future teams to come and see this team's contribution to the Village.

After lunch the whole team went to VBS and sang songs, told a story of Christ healing the blind, and made crafts.  It was kid chaos as we tried to help them with their crafts.  Some were very pushy while others sat patiently as we handed out the needed materials for the craft.  The language barrier definitely made it harder to control the kids but everyone was having fun and that was the important thing.  After the crafts were complete we took the kids to the sports field (the sports field should not be confused for the sports court) for some soccer.  This was great fun as the kids would scream and laugh, and usually louder if a Mission team member had the ball or fell or something of the like.

Domingo and I had earlier decided we wanted to hike up one of the nearby mountains, so after my team won the soccer game 1-0, he and I, along with Denise, headed out in the rain to try and top the ridge directly in front of the Mission shelter.

When I was struggling simply to stand, this man
efficiently lugged four large timbers down
the muddy trail.  Amazing.

I seriously didn't think it would be a difficult hike but man was I wrong.  The height and distance were deceiving.  It is also tough to walk up the hill while sliding down hill in the muddy terrain.  On the way down though this proved to be really entertaining.  I was amazed as we nearly reached the first shelf of the slope to see a man pulling four large pieces of lumber behind him as sure footed as a mountain goat.  I had a light pack on and I was struggling after only 10minutes into the trek.  I was highly impressed with Denise and her determined effort to move ahead and stay close to Domingo.  As the oldest individual on the trek I felt it my duty to bring up the rear and be a safety net, well that and I couldn't keep up anyways.  We never made the top as clouds moved in and the sun was soon to set.  Disappointed but wisely we headed back down.  The trees silhoutted in the clouds made for an awesome backdrop to the lush green forested foreground.  Once under the canopy of the trees it became dark on the way down but before we got to far the sun broke and the Village appeared far below for a brief moment and the three of us shouted like school kids, claiming a victory to simply be alive in that instant.  We shouted like fools at anyone who might hear us from far below.  The rest of the trip down the mountain was joyous, sliding, fun.  When at the bottom shelf where we had seen the man with lumber, Denise and I had some fun mud skiing down the hill.  We also smeared mud on our faces and gave the rest of the team a little laugh.  Shortly after returning to the shelter and sharing stories and laughs I took a good, but cold shower.

Supper and the evening was a bit of a blur as my body was tired and I was pumping with adrenaline and raw emotion.  Anxious to go home and see my family, but not ready to leave.   

From near the top of the mountain, we
looked far below as the clouds broke to
see the Village and hollered like kids

Some of us faired better on the hike than
others, but from the smiles, you can tell
we all had lots of fun.